"Hello, Skye." Jemma called out as soon as her head popped up out of the water near the shore. She swam the last few feet and quickly pulled herself up onto the sand of the very familiar grotto, it was the place she'd spent most of her time the last two weeks.
"I have something for you-" Jemma had been excited and about to reach for the pouch at her waist when she looked up and actually caught sight of Skye. She'd started wearing different clothes recently, and every time Jemma saw her in them she found that her skin flushed and the tips of her ears turned bright red. What Skye called a bikini was very revealing and Jemma couldn't get over how soft and delicate her body looked.
"I..I brought something for you." Jemma tried to get back to what she had been intending to do, but she couldn't take her eyes off Skye and fumbled around a little bit before her hand finally closed around the object in her bag.
"Oh yeah?!" Skye had just scrambled over the rock before Jemma had popped her head out of the water and had already set her satchel down, which had been steadily growing larger over the past couple of weeks with things to bring to show her new mermaid friend.
It had been getting extra hot out and since Skye seemed to be spending everyday out in the sun, she had decided that tanning would be a good idea and a bathing suit was certainly more beach appropriate than skinny jeans and a sweatshirt. In any case she pulled her biking shorts off and dropped them down in the sand next to her bag, bending over to reach inside it to pull out her towel and something else she quickly hid in it.
"What a coincidence, because I brought you something too," The brunette grinned, turning back around and bringing her towel over to the sand and laying it out next to Jemma before she sat down, hands behind her back.
"You first then!" A huge grin was on her face, both in excitement and anticipation. Her last couple of weeks had been wonderful, steadily showing Jemma more and more things and learning more things about her as well. It was the best, and longest, part of her day, at least when she didn't have to leave for class, but she would always try to come back after.
Sometimes Jemma would still be there, sometimes not. Those days she went home sad, but they had been few and for that, Skye was very glad.
Jemma was also a big fan of their time together, it was without a doubt the highlight of her day. When she wasn't actually with Skye, she was thinking about her, and it often got her into trouble at home. She was distracted and far off most of the time and she could tell at least Bobbi knew it, if not everyone. Thankfully no one had said anything yet.
"Oh, all right." Jemma smiled, trying not to let her eyes flick down to Skye's bare legs. For someone who didn't have legs, she sure liked them. To change the subject in her own mind, Jemma pulled her hand out of her bag and opened it in front of Skye, revealing a necklace.
"I made it myself. The string is twine, and these are cowrie shells. These colorful bits here are pieces of sea glass that I made beads out of." Jemma proudly presented the object to her best friend. It had taken her a week to make, she'd spent so much time filing down the glass into small spheres and putting holes in them with her stone tools. She felt so accomplished when it was finally done and she really hoped Skye liked it.
"Oh wow! Look at it," The artist gasped in awe and dropped whatever she was hiding behind her from Jemma and gently took the necklace from her, turning it over in her hands to examine every detail. "You know what you've done right? Jemma, you made art," Skye laughed, still grinning like a child on Christmas.
"I love it, it's beautiful. Did you show Bobbi? Or your other pod members? They're going to get jealous. You'd better get to making one for everyone," She joked and handed it back to her before she turned around and sat with her back facing the mermaid. She gathered her shoulder length hair up into a ponytail behind her head and angled back so she could still see her friend, "Will you put it on for me? I don't want to mess it up."
"Just for you...you're special." Jemma's face instantly reddened and she was glad Skye had her back turned. Her heart swelled with pride from Skye's praise and the knowledge that she'd made art, just like Skye.
Jemma curtly nodded to Skye's request, not realizing at first that Skye couldn't see her. Her eyes were too focused on Skye's shoulders and her back, Jemma could see all the lines of her muscles and she wanted to trace all of them. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Jemma peeled her eyes away and looked back down at the necklace one more time before raising her arms.
"I can do that..." She cautiously reached around Skye's neck, maybe not so subtly grazing her shoulders, and putting the necklace on her. She took her sweet time tying it into a slip knot, so that Skye would be able to loosen and tighten it to get it on and off. She was almost regretful when she finished, but she placed a gentle hand on one of Skye's warm, tanned shoulders.
"So... What did you bring?" Jemma changed the subject quickly, hoping Skye would turn back around so she wouldn't be so distracted, but it wasn't like Skye's front was any less attractive.
Skye would be lying to herself if she said she hadn't done it on purpose. She had only known Jemma for a few weeks now, but she couldn't deny she was a little more than enamored with her. Her sketchbook could pretty much vouch for that. Jemma's face, Jemma's tail, all of her, everything was the only thing in her book for the last hundred pages, and every night she went home and added more. She was thinking about Jemma just as much as the mermaid was thinking about her, if not more.
She took her little victories, the small touches that made her hot, partially sunburnt skin shiver. Jemma was her friend though, before anything and Skye certainly didn't want to mess that up, so she never let anything linger too long, except for her gaze, because she stared at the mermaid like she was the sun itself.
"Oh right! It won't compare to this, but I think you'll like it," Skye grinned and moved away, but only a little, to stretch towards the blanket and grab her object. She held out towards Jemma, in her hand, a blue, disposable camera.
"This, is your very own, waterproof disposable camera. So you can take your own pictures underwater while you're doing things. You don't have to take pictures of your pod, I understand the secrecy thing ten hundred percent. But once it's finished," She took it and pointed to a small number next to the eyepiece, "It will say zero, and then you can bring it back to me and I can take them on campus and get them developed for you!" Skye grinned, hoping that Jemma would like the surprise she had brought. It wasn't anywhere near as creative or thoughtful as Jemma's present had been, but she had passed it in the store and couldn't miss the opportunity.
"Your very own camera, Jemma. I'll even laminate the pictures if you want to keep any of them, so they won't get hurt by the water."
Skye may not have thought the gift was anything special, but to Jemma, it was like Skye had just given her the best gift in the world. A camera that worked underwater? Skye really could do anything, and it made her heart flutter to think that Skye would get something like this for her.
"Skye, I love it!" She exclaimed, taking the camera in her hands and looking it over. It was a lot simpler than Skye's, but Jemma appreciated it since she didn't really know how to work it other than point and click. Skye said she could make the pictures last underwater, so her first goal was to get a good shot of Skye. Jemma brought the small plastic object up to her face and made sure Skye was in the center of the frame, smiling, before she pushed down on the button.
She couldn't wait to take all the pictures that would fit and then have Skye develop them for her so she could keep them with her.
"Now you can see what it looks like down under too." Jemma laughed, already thinking about what things and places she wanted to take pictures of to show Skye.
"Yeah, because that's the only way I'm ever going to see it," Skye chuckled, "At least if I'm not knocked out and drowning with no mermaid heroine to save me anyway." She sat back on the blanket with a sigh, before she decided to lay back and stretch out a little bit. She put her arms behind her head as a pillow and yawned, closing her eyes now that the sun was blaring down in them. She had forgotten her sunglasses. The brunette just needed to add them to the long list of things she needed to bring with her every day.
"I'm really glad you like it, Jems. I thought you might," She was still ginning, before she opened her eyes and took a peek at the mermaid, "Do anything fun after I had to leave yesterday? I know it was kind of early, but I had a test. Oh, a test is when in class we have a lot of things we learned, and we have to write it all back down so the teacher knows we have memorized it." She explained, since she knew she hadn't yet had a test since she met the mermaid.
Explaining different things had become easier and she had noticed Jemma's vocabulary steadily starting to shift and grow. It made her proud and happy to know that she was helping her learn things. She would have to see if she could read…they did have The Little Mermaid in the library to rent.
Jemma chuckled and watched as Skye stretched out, already trying to memorize the newest word Skye had explained. It was even harder for Jemma to concentrate when Skye was in this position, she could very clearly see how well defined Skye's stomach and abs were, and if she hadn't been unsure about whether or not Skye would be ok with it, she would have reached out to touch her by now.
"Oh, not much. I mostly just did odd jobs for the pod." Jemma shared about the rest of her day, though it wasn't anything interesting. Even though she wasn't sure about touching, Jemma knew Skye wasn't annoyed by her proximity, so she scooted a little closer until she was lying on her stomach, adjacent to her, her chin resting down on her folded arms. The sun beating down on her back made her sleepy and she yawned just after Skye.
"You know, this is the first time my hair has ever been dry." Jemma mumbled, her eyes half closed.
Skye sat up a little, opening her eyes to look over at the mermaid and grinned, nodding. Her hair was indeed dry. They had been out that long, it was an accomplishment. She rested her head back down and shut her eyes again, "I like it. It's different…" She sighed as she said it, just enjoying the presence of her friend and how nice the sun felt on her skin. Her hair was a completely different color when it was dry and Skye found that she liked it, just like she had said. It was all frizzy of course, probably because it had never been dry before, but the brunette didn't mind. Her own didn't look so great every day after having the ocean breeze on it for hours on end.
"Am I going to have to dump you back in the water? Should I bring a bucket next time? You won't dry out if you lay up here with me will you?" She giggled to herself and turned her head to the side, staying on her back, so she could look at Jemma and not have to keep her eyes closed against the sun.
"Well my day was boring too. I had to go to the diner after the test, and then Ward made me go on some stupid fake ass treasure hunt on the other side of the island. Turns out he lost his really expensive watch there last week during one of his stupid parties. A watch is something we tell time with. I would have rather been laying here talking to you. It's way more fun."
Jemma liked to hear that Skye enjoyed spending time with her, she was just sorry Skye had to spend time with Ward. In the two weeks they'd known each other Jemma learned he was the one that knocked Skye off the boat that night, and she heard all kinds of things about him. She was starting to think he was one of those bad people Skye had mentioned knowing before.
"What are you doing tomorrow? I don't know if I can make it, I'm supposed to spend time with Bobbi." Jemma sighed, passing up Skye's jokes for a slightly more serious topic. She didn't want to have to go a whole day without seeing Skye, but it was starting to look like that was the way it was going to be.
"Well, I was going to come see you," her mouth turned down into a slight frown, "But sounds like those plans have got to change. I guess I'll hang out with Ward again…he's been pestering me about disappearing. Or I'll pick up a shift at the diner. I could use the money for a new sketchbook. I've almost filled this one up."
Skye motioned back towards her bag before she pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked down at the mermaid, "Tomorrow is going to suck now, basically. Uh, when we say something 'sucks' we mean that we aren't going to enjoy it. Or we don't like something. Like if you didn't like collecting clams all the time, you would say 'collecting clams sucks'." Skye smiled at that, a little more human slang for Jemma to take back home with her.
She wanted to change the subject though. She didn't like talking about how boring her day was going to be tomorrow if Jemma wasn't going to be around. "Do you want to see what I drew last night? I think I got the scales right this time. Mind if I compare?" She sat up and reached around, stretch her back a little more, causing a small series of pops, before she grabbed her bag and pulled it over. She took her book out and flipped through the pages to the newest few she had drawn and laid them out for Jemma to look at.
While Jemma was looking, Skye scooted forward down the beach a little bit, closer to Jemma's tail. She took a glance at her sketch and then looked at the pattern and sighed heavily, "Damnit…wrong again. Your tail is so hard to get right…"
Jemma had been frowning while hearing about how Skye wasn't going to have such a great day tomorrow, and Jemma felt the same way, but the feeling slipped away and was replaced by a smile when Skye got out her sketchbook. Jemma loved to look at her drawings and Skye always seemed happiest while working on them.
She chuckled a little bit because of how frustrated Skye was. Jemma was no artist, but she could imagine that her tail wasn't something so easy to get right. It wasn't until a few seconds later that Jemma realized just how close Skye had gotten, much closer than ever before. She was practically leaning against Jemma's tail and when Jemma saw her reach out to touch it...
Jemma's body tensed and coiled like a spring, and it quickly sprung loose as she jumped away from Skye's touch, sitting up completely with wide eyes and a very embarrassed expression on her face. She was turned now so that her upper body was between Skye and her fins, and she couldn't help but stare down at the sand instead of look into Skye's eyes.
People didn't just do that, and Jemma couldn't blame Skye for not knowing, but she still felt that instinct to pull away. Touching a mermaid's tail was very, very intimate. Not even mermaids did it, not unless they were already partners for life. Jemma's heart was pounding in her chest because of Skye's gesture and she couldn't force herself to look up.
"Woah, woah there, cowgirl…" Skye pulled her hands back quickly, not exactly sure why Jemma had suddenly jumped away. She held her hands up though, so Jemma could see both of them if she was looking, "I'm sorry…?" She wasn't sure what she was sorry for, but whatever it had been had clearly frightened the mermaid enough to make her freak out and that was the last thing Skye wanted.
She scooted back even, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, "I…did I do something? Jemma, I didn't mean to. I don't know what I did, so I-I need you to uhm…explain please? So I don't do it again. I don't wanna freak you out…I promise."
Jemma bit her lip and continued to stare down at the sand as if the mix of browns had suddenly become more interesting. She was debating whether or not to actually tell Skye what bothered her, it was very personal and she wasn't quite sure how to say or explain it to her.
"It's...it's nothing." Jemma stuttered, but when she finally managed to look up at Skye, she felt guilty. Skye looked so worried and confused and Jemma didn't want her to be. "Well, it's not nothing...it's a lot more than nothing." Jemma ran her fingers back through her hair to brush it out of her face before she finally made eye contact with Skye again, but it made her blush.
"Touching a mermaid's tail...it's personal. Not even we do it unless...well, it's...it's only something that partners do." Jemma was sure her face looked as sunburnt as Skye sometimes was, and she couldn't be more embarrassed. "You just startled me, that's all."
Skye was almost afraid that when Jemma first spoke that she wasn't going to tell her what had happened, and that just made the brunette even more worried, but when the mermaid finally spoke up, she nodded. She understood personal space issues and she certainly didn't want to violate any of Jemma's space or traditions or whatever they were. They were important for a reason and Skye had no intention in stepping all over them.
"Yeah? That's cool, that's a really cool, special thing. I'm sorry…I didn't mean to intrude or scare you," She let herself relax, letting go of her knees so her legs could stretch out again, "I won't try to touch it again. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking even really…like if I could somehow feel the pattern maybe drawing it would be easier, but I can just work with my eyes. I'll get it right eventually, it's no big deal," Skye smiled weakly to the mermaid, hoping that everything was settled again and they could go back to how it had been a few minutes ago. She didn't want Jemma to leave early because of her.
"There's…uhm…a few more sketches you missed…I think, if you want to look. Or you could tell me anything you want me to bring next time. I keep forgetting to grab everything before I come out."
Jemma sighed audibly, glad that everything was okay and that Skye had been so good about it. She scooted closer again, eager to see more of Skye's artwork. After seeing so much of it, Jemma was starting to have a little more of an eye for it, she could sort of see what Skye meant about the scales not being quite right.
"It's okay, no harm done." Jemma assured her, already engaged in the sketches once again.
"This one is the closest." Jemma flipped back a few pages to one of Skye's sketches where her tail was fairly accurate, only slightly off. It wasn't even strange to her that Skye's sketchbook was full of drawings of her anymore.
As she continued to try and act normal again, Jemma couldn't help but think about what would have happened if she hadn't moved away so quickly. Would she have liked it if Skye touched her scales? The thought wasn't unpleasant, quite the opposite, actually. The only reason she'd denied the advance at all was because she had practically heard Bobbi scolding her and she didn't want to do anything she might regret. The longer she thought about it, though, the more she realized it was Bobbi and her pod that would regret it, not Jemma.
"You know, I thought so…" Skye sighed and picked up the sketchbook, looking closely at the picture that Jemma had pointed out as the closest to accurate. Skye just couldn't see where she was getting it wrong…she just knew that it was. "I tried it again here though," She flipped the next page and pointed, still shaking her head, "Guess it got worse. Without a picture it's hard to remember it when I go home. I need like…a magnifying glass or something," She set the book back down and turned her attention to the actual ocean, looking out across it with a sigh. It was so beautiful, and yet she was so afraid of it…but Jemma lived there every day, so how bad could it really be?
"I guess perfection isn't meant to be captured by human hands. Oh, a magnifying glass is something that enlarges the picture of something. Like, if you were to hold it over the sand, you could see all the individual grains better, instead of just a big glob." She waved her hand in the air as she rattled off another explanation.
As Skye explained another object, Jemma barely paid attention, too stuck on the fact that Skye had called her perfect. The way she'd said it had been so unceremonious, so casual, like she actually believed it was true.
Jemma's breath caught in her throat as she looked between Skye's hand, the sketch, and her tail. Could she? She found that she actually wanted Skye to run her hands over her scales, feel them as well as see them. When mutual, that feeling alone would have been enough for two mermaids to match up, so why would it be so different for her and Skye? Just because Skye had legs?
Dangerous thoughts began to enter Jemma's head. She started to doubt everything the pod had ever taught her, and she was beginning to favor Skye. She no longer wanted the pod and their stupid rules to dictate how she felt about Skye and who she let touch her tail. Like she had said earlier, it was personal, so Jemma felt she had the right to make this decision for herself.
"You'll get it right eventually." Jemma said quietly, reaching for Skye's hand and enclosing it in hers. Jemma's gaze fell onto Skye's eyes, lingering there with a certain intensity as she brought Skye's hand downwards and pressed her palm against her scales, where her thigh would have been had she had legs instead.
Skye was too busy rattling on about something else. She had gotten fairly accustomed to Jemma grabbing her hands or her arms. It was like the mermaid was as intrigued by her skin as Skye was by her scales, except that Skye didn't mind and it didn't hold quite the same meaning. She was so used to this, in fact, she barely paid attention at all until she caught Jemma's eyes and felt her hand on something warm and smooth, not unlike the heat radiating off a cold rock after being in the sun all day. It certainly wasn't skin, and when Skye looked down, she realized where it was. She moved to draw her hand away, slowly, unsure and apologetic that she had somehow managed to touch her scales despite what Jemma had said, only she stopped when she realized the mermaid's hand was on top of her own, keeping it there.
Skye's eyes got wider. She wasn't sure how to react and she was confused. "I thought...I thought you said...I didn't think I was allowed to?" She asked finally, not having really found the right words, but unable to think of any others. She suddenly felt honored, but she didn't know why Jemma had changed her mind when she had been so vehemently against it before.
From what she could tell, they were smooth, but hard. Certainly not unlike fish scales but somehow significantly different at the same time. Jemma didn't feel slimy, like she thought of when she had touched her one pet goldfish back when she had been seven. She wanted to examine closer, wanted to run her hand along and feel the expanse of her tail and all the scales, to get the pattern into her head and just genuinely satisfy her curiosity and need to feel her.
Skye wasn't the only one who was completely bewildered, Jemma was still surprised by her own actions. This was the first time someone had really touched her tail like this and it sent a shiver up Jemma's spine, as if she had been cold before and the heat of Skye's palm suddenly warmed her up. She found that she quite liked it, she liked it very much.
"I-I changed my mind." Jemma mumbled, not really sure how to explain her thinking to Skye when she was so embarrassed like this. She felt exposed, but it wasn't necessarily a bad feeling.
"I, uhm, I think I like it. Do you?" Jemma asked, referring to Skye's hand still on her tail. She was suddenly worried that Skye thought it was weird, maybe she wasn't a fan of her tail now that she actually knew what it felt like.
"It's…" Again, Skye wasn't sure that she had the words for it. She liked the feel of the scales under her hand as she let her fingers move over them just a little. Skye could feel where they connected to one another and made a protective blanket over Jemma's tail. She had been quiet for a moment, just in awe, before she realized she hadn't really answered the mermaid's question.
"Yeah...yeah, I like it. It's really great," The artist smiled, it was small, but she was still amazed. "M-may I?" She asked suddenly, looking between Jemma's eyes and her hand, as if even Jemma laying her hand on her scales wasn't quite permission enough. She got a little nod, and Skye turned her attention back to the mermaid's tail.
The artist adjusted herself, scooting just a little bit closer so she could angle herself to get a better look, and slowly, she slid her hand out from under Jemma's and gently ran it across the length of her tail, taking in the pattern and how it felt. This close up, she could already see places she had gotten wrong in her drawings. The pattern was so complicated, with layers overlapping every which way. Skye was too mesmerized and a little breathless 'wow' escaped her lips before she took her hand away. She wanted to touch it more, to examine it carefully, to feel the curious texture under her fingers more, and if Jemma liked it, all the better.
"It's really beautiful, thank you, Jemma," Skye brought her hands back to herself, scooting back up so she was closer to the top half of the mermaid, just letting her eyes wander a minute longer before she brought them back. "I think that helped...want to see?" Skye grinned wide then and grabbed for her book and a pencil, putting them both in her lap as she flipped to the next clean page. It was the last one in the book.
"Oh look. last page. I'd better make it good. See how close to perfect I can get...I'll be a goddess of art yet," She set to work quickly, trying to occupy herself after the intense moment before. She was a little flustered and embarrassed herself and she didn't want the mermaid to know.
Jemma would have to be blind not to notice, and it made her blush herself. She missed Skye's hand the moment it left her tail and she realized that it had definitely not been a mistake. Bobbi was wrong, Skye was her best friend, more than that probably. She didn't care if an ancestor of hers had been unlucky, that was one person out of the so many that shared the Earth with them.
"You'll get it right one of these times, I know you will." Jemma assured Skye, scooting closer so she could watch as Skye's hand and pencil scratched lines onto the page. She could watch it for days and not get bored, it was one of the most fascinating things she'd learned about so far. There were amazing pieces of technology like cameras and cellphones, but still her favorite was Skye's art. A soft hand fell onto Skye's knee as she worked, and Jemma smiled contently as the image started to take shape.
It was hard to ignore Jemma's touch, especially when Skye was trying to busy herself and not think about it, but the task was easier said than done. She liked that Jemma didn't really hesitate, after all, she didn't mind. Skye figured she was as probably just as fascinating to Jemma as Jemma was to her, and they were friends, so why wouldn't they be touching each other? Skye knew by now already she wanted more than that, but was she being too greedy?
Touching her tail, actually running her hand along Jemma's scales made her more real than anything, even though she had been talking to her now for the past few weeks. It was as if, all of a sudden, it was solidified. It was a fact. Mermaids were real and she wasn't stuck in some sort of fantasy.
Skye took her time, drawing on the paper. She felt a little nervous when Jemma watched, more pressure to get it all right, but she did enjoy it. Jemma was always excited and appreciated everything she drew and it was very flattering to have such a fan. The silence between them wasn't awkward, Skye was just focusing and she knew the mermaid was happy just to watch, but as she approached the tail again and the scales, she started to let out small frustrated noises.
She began to erase more and more often and the harder she tried, it was like the worse she got. Without really thinking about it a second time, Skye put her free hand down on Jemma's scales again, feeling over them, taking it in. She tried to keep her eyes off the girl's face, she knew she would just blush more if she looked at her. Skye kept her hand on Jemma's tail, just rubbing, feeling each individual one with her fingers and trying to get the image of them in her head while she drew at the same time. Finally done, she withdrew her hand and put the pencil down, sitting back with a disappointed look on her face, "It's still not right…there's just something…I can't get…"
Jemma was pleasantly surprised when Skye had put her hand on her tail a second time, she'd thought Skye was a little more shy than that, but she definitely enjoyed it. It was like when Skye was touching her, some kind of tension was released and she felt all kinds of relaxed. Happiness couldn't even begin to describe it, and she was finally starting to understand those special bonds between partners like her parents.
When Skye's hand moved away, Jemma finally snapped back to attention and looked down at the sketch in Skye's lap. Even though Skye was still having trouble, Jemma thought that every time she made another attempt every other aspect of the sketch was better. Skye had pretty much perfected Jemma's face at this point, it was just the scales. The rest of it was perfect.
"It's still better than last time." Jemma pointed out, and it was the truth. The scales looked accurate, but like Skye, Jemma could tell that they were still missing something, like they lacked some important detail that neither of them could figure out.
"Yeah? Well, I've got the rest of you down to a T, I guess," Skye chuckled and closed the book, setting it aside and leaning back while bracing herself up with her hands, "I need a new book now. All those pages are full. I'll have to buy another one tomorrow so I can keep practicing. I'm not gonna quit till I get it right, you know." Skye nodded more to herself than actually to Jemma, but she put on a big toothy grin when she looked back over at the mermaid.
"Thanks uhm…for today, and everything. I'm glad you let me touch them. They're so cool and colorful…your tail looks like a galaxy out in space or something with all those colors. You don't know what a galaxy is…" Skye sighed and shut her eyes, "Guess I know what I'm bringing pictures of next time. You'll see, I think you'll agree, although you're probably prettier than that," It sort of slipped out, like Skye had a habit of doing. It was like she forgot to filter the thoughts in her head before they got to her mouth and so the artist sat in rigid silence, face getting redder and redder, and it wasn't because of the sun. She had given up at this point, it was hardly worth trying to redeem herself.
Like Skye, Jemma was blushing, and she occupied herself by drawing little patterns in the sand. It had been a wonderful visit, so much had happened. The necklace still hung around Skye's neck and it made Jemma bubbly inside. She'd never felt this way about anyone else. Skye was very special to her, but that was why she had to keep their friendship a secret.
It was already late afternoon, and Jemma was surprised Bobbi hadn't already tried calling her back, so she figured she'd go on her own this time. It was best not to make her sister have to get on her tail every day, it would only make her even more curious about where Jemma was running off to all the time.
Jemma inhaled slowly, sighing slightly as she looked back up at Skye once more. She couldn't wait to see the pictures Skye said she was going to bring, but for now it was time to say goodbye. They wouldn't see each other the next day, but Jemma would find a way to deal with it.
"I should probably go now." She said solemnly, looking back towards the water. "Thanks again for the camera, I'll take lots of cool pictures." She smiled, carefully picking up the foreign object and slipping it into her pouch.
"Awesome," Skye smiled shyly, suddenly all butterflies and nervous again, but she tried to shake it away. It had indeed been a wonderful day and although she was sad that she wouldn't be seeing Jemma tomorrow, she knew that they would make up for it the next day they could hang out again.
"I look forward to seeing them all. I can't wait," She kept her smile up, but still sighed, "So I'll see you in two days?"
"Absolutely." Jemma agreed, a big, dopey smile on her face. She took her time pushing herself back into the water, but she came back up once more after submerging herself. "When the sun is high." She pointed up into the air. It was more of a joke to them now, something Jemma had just begun to say upon parting, and it made them both smile.