"I'm only half at home here now," Ulla admits. "It took... I met
Warren six months after arriving, and then spent the next year and a half
trying my best not to care about him or fully give in to trusting him. I
spent most of my time equally tempted to trust him or stab him. Frankly
it's a miracle I never did the latter. I love him, but he's a very
infuriating person."
She shakes her head. "Now I miss him so badly it aches. And I still hate
being beached all the time. I miss the sea, too."
Still, she doesn't hate the Barge. Not after what it's given her. "But a
lot of the people here are good. And less inclined to rejection or bigotry
than anyone back home."
Ulla nods. "I couldn't really imagine it either. I spent my whole life
surrounded by rumors that I was half human, ostracized by most of my
people. And then on land, I still didn't fit. My human half brother tried
to convince me to stay with him instead, when we met briefly, but I think I
would still have been too strange. I only ever fit with one person before
the Barge, and it turned out she never deserved me in the first place."
"I miss the water. And I don't need everyone to accept me. I'll have
enough."
She has plans, and people waiting. "My warden, his husband, and the person
whose life my graduation won back for them are all there already. So is
Lark's husband, who was the only one of my temporary wardens who bothered
checking on me after our pairing ended. Lark will be headed there too, of
course. It was his home originally. That's already more than I ever had
before the Barge."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 4 Mar 2023 19:43 (UTC)no subject
Date: 6 Mar 2023 04:55 (UTC)Ulla laughs softly. "I'm more used to people disliking me than the reverse. The Barge has been a new experience, that way."
no subject
Date: 6 Mar 2023 22:07 (UTC)no subject
Date: 6 Mar 2023 22:15 (UTC)"I'm only half at home here now," Ulla admits. "It took... I met Warren six months after arriving, and then spent the next year and a half trying my best not to care about him or fully give in to trusting him. I spent most of my time equally tempted to trust him or stab him. Frankly it's a miracle I never did the latter. I love him, but he's a very infuriating person."
She shakes her head. "Now I miss him so badly it aches. And I still hate being beached all the time. I miss the sea, too."
Still, she doesn't hate the Barge. Not after what it's given her. "But a lot of the people here are good. And less inclined to rejection or bigotry than anyone back home."
no subject
Date: 6 Mar 2023 23:14 (UTC)no subject
Date: 9 Mar 2023 16:47 (UTC)Ulla nods. "I couldn't really imagine it either. I spent my whole life surrounded by rumors that I was half human, ostracized by most of my people. And then on land, I still didn't fit. My human half brother tried to convince me to stay with him instead, when we met briefly, but I think I would still have been too strange. I only ever fit with one person before the Barge, and it turned out she never deserved me in the first place."
no subject
Date: 13 Mar 2023 21:05 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 Mar 2023 14:34 (UTC)"I miss the water. And I don't need everyone to accept me. I'll have enough."
She has plans, and people waiting. "My warden, his husband, and the person whose life my graduation won back for them are all there already. So is Lark's husband, who was the only one of my temporary wardens who bothered checking on me after our pairing ended. Lark will be headed there too, of course. It was his home originally. That's already more than I ever had before the Barge."