…She looks like she really doesn't want to give it back.

"Um… I mean, I'll take the stick if you really want me to, but you don't have to give it back yet if you don't want to? I'll ask for it back if I really feel like I want it to be my turn."

Should she have pretended she didn’t care? Eh, it doesn’t matter. Instead, she can ask questions! So much better than self-doubt. In fact, she won’t even reply to that, she’ll just continue holding the stick and ask a new question.

“Compared to humans, how do your children grow up? Are they faster? When are they considered adults?”

"Yeah, they're faster. We're basically equivalent to human toddlers when we hatch, and I think a 3-year-old mermaid is probably equivalent to a human between the ages of 8 and 12, at least mentally. And then we're sexually mature between 8 and 10, physically mature between 10 and 12, socially considered adults between 10 and 15 depending on how one's clan defines adulthood."

“Which is why you specified that you aren’t sixteen in the same way as a human,” she nods. “Humans are pretty unusual in how much they rely on their parents when little compared to other species.”

“How does your clan define adulthood?”

"Well, we do still rely on our caregivers quite a bit during those first several years. Not nearly as much as humans, we're never as dependent as actual babies; but we're too small and ignorant to hunt for ourselves or know what's good to eat, we're silly and impulsive in the way that all juveniles are silly and impulsive… That kind of thing. But we definitely get past that stage faster than humans. In theory, anyway. Mermaids spend their whole lives with a family of some sort, and no mermaid can expect to survive in the ocean on their own even if they're an adult, so in a way we're never fully independent. But I feel like, if it was purely a question of being a competent hunter, a lot of mermaids could probably fend for themselves by the time they're 3 or 4? But it's hard to know, since we can't actually get rid of all the other stuff that kills mermaids and see what happens.

"My clan defines adulthood purely by age, as measured by how many assemblies have occurred since you hatched. You're an adult when you get to your fourth one. They aren't spaced evenly apart, but on average you'd expect to be dubbed an adult between 12 and 14. Maybe a bit earlier or a bit later if you get a weird distribution."

“Pack creatures, of course. Yeah, humans also continue living in society after reaching adulthood.  It’s also not uncommon. Although an important part of supernatural species tend to be more individualistic. It might be coincidental, I haven’t confirmed any theories either way.”

“That’s a nice system. Easy to keep track off. A bit better than years, even, since assemblies are more notable.”

Meredith even manages to avoid asking Sanna why she’s on her own given the facts! She’s maybe not a complete failure at respecting others’ personal space! (More likely, there’s so much to comment that she couldn’t say everything she was thinking.)

"I hadn't thought about it that way, but yeah, it is nice to have an unmistakable signal that you've become an adult. Something that's notable in and of itself, not just because it's a date on a calendar.

"And yeah, lots of animals of course keep living in groups after they're adults. But adult humans theoretically can go live completely by themselves, without even the support of wider society, if they know what they're doing. Whereas mermaids pretty much can't do that. Maybe it's not completely impossible, but they'd have to be fantastically lucky on a regular basis. Around here, the biggest thing a human has to worry about is a bear, or a mountain lion, or a wolf, or maybe an angry moose if they're unlucky. Where I'm from, the biggest thing a mermaid has to worry about is a 20-foot killer whale, or a 30-foot-plus whale shark." (The 'plus' is because they've occasionally been known to get way bigger than that. Apparently scientists straight-up don't know how big they can get, which is just fantastic. She doesn't miss the ocean.)

She tilts her head. "I dunno, maybe it could be done if we had institutional knowledge about the best way to go about it, the way humans have accumulated tons of institutional knowledge about how to survive in a cabin in the woods or whatever. But we don't have that, because mermaids almost never do that, and if there are any who do it and survive, they don't come back to tell everyone else how they managed."

"Well, moving to land seems like it's been an effective strategy for you so far! Maybe others have also done it in the past. As a side note, though, there are also some larger-than-bears predators on land, they're just supernatural and not widely known to humans because of that. They usually are either not interested in humans or too deadly for there to be any witnesses. I'm quite glad that you hadn't got killed by a dragon before we could meet!"

"Yeah, I was purely talking about mermaids who still live in the ocean. And non-supernatural predators. But, yeah, I get what you're saying."

What the hell does she say to that last part. She's not going to say 'Thanks', because Meredith's gladness is purely selfish. A stock response that she too is glad she's not dead yet seems redundant and inane. She can't say the feeling's mutual, because it isn't.

On second thought, maybe she just won't respond to that part at all.

Meredith also didn’t think that part needed an answer so it all works out!

She nods, “so, do you know if it’s common for there to be lone mermaids who do move out of the ocean like you’ve done? Doesn’t that make you miss your pod?”

"I doubt it's common. There are very few lone mermaids to begin with, and I expect a lot of them die before the idea of leaving the ocean even enters their heads. And then, turning human doesn't imbue us with knowledge of human language or behaviour or culture, and it especially doesn't imbue us with clothing or identity documents or literacy. A mermaid can't just waltz into a city and expect to get by. So I imagine most mermaids stick with the devil they know, and I'm guessing most of the remainder either wash out and flee back to the ocean, or wind up dead because being broke and homeless and ignorant makes them easy prey for human predators. I made it because I had help. I don't want to talk about it. I don't miss my pod, and I don't want to talk about why."

She does miss her nurse, but she doesn't see any reason to bring that up. And also she still isn't ready to admit it

But she does want to hear about it. She’ll push that feeling aside(-ish) and offer the stick to Sanna yet again, in case it helps her better resist the temptation to keep asking.

“Mhm… true. We vampires have the advantage of having been raised as humans, even if we’re actually more psychologically different from them than your species is.”

"Yeah."

She takes the stick this time.

So many questions, which one to start with…

Well, there's the obvious:

"What sorts of supernatural creatures should I be worrying about in this region, and how can I best avoid them or defend myself from them?"

“There’s nothing particularly dangerous very close by, mainly because, well, territorialism. If you go to the mountain range east of here, you get in a dragon’s territory. It’s best if you avoid it but, if you can’t, be deferential and make it very clear that you know and respect that you are currently under her authority.

“There’s some minor creatures in the woods nearby that might be harmful? Nothing that’s likely to be deadly unless someone new comes over. Oh, and avoid fae-portals. They have really earned their reputation.”

Sanna pulls out her phone and starts taking notes.

"…Mountain range east of here?" She could mean something really far away, or something in the US… "You'll have to enlighten me."

“Yes”, she nods and pauses for a moment, checking that she’s recalling the name properly before telling her, “in the Laurentides. Best if you avoid the whole range.”

"And the Laurentides are where, exactly?" Fuck it, she has Google Maps. It's annoying that Meredith didn't specify further, but, whatever.

Ah. Quebec. She didn't even know there was a mountain range there. It's huge.

Easy enough to avoid. She has no reason to go to Quebec, let alone the mountains specifically. Even without the warning, she probably would've gone her whole life without ever setting foot there.

"Okay. Thanks. What kinds of creatures are in the woods?" She doesn't hike much, and never alone, maybe that's why she hasn't run into any.

“There’s will-o-the-wisps, they’re usually harmless but you should still avoid following them. There are also many small animals and plants that aren’t all that different from the mundane. You’ll want to look out for the fae, as I’ve already mentioned. And, obviously, do not ride kelpies, although they aren’t common here. There’s a few other vampires further north but they’re unlikely to bother you unless you bother them first. And there’s a pack of werewolves near Toronto.”

Sanna was going to ask about vampires, so she's glad Meredith brought them up.

"Okay. I'll want to know more about these things, 'cause this isn't a lot to go on, but it can wait for another time." It's not like she was planning to tromp through the woods tomorrow or something. "But what's a fae-portal and how do I recognize one? Oh, and how much further north are the vampires? Are we talking Barrie, or further north than that?"

“Fae-portals are doors to the fae realm, of course. Many of them are like the ones in folklore, rings of  mushrooms or made by the branches of a tree. There’s also the occasional door or stairway that looks like it goes nowhere. You’ll probably be able to feel them, it’s like they vibrate on a different frequency on a magical level than their surroundings.”

“A bit further north than that, there are two near Thunder Bay, one by Sudbury. Some even further north if you want to know about those too.”

"Alright." Type type type. "Do you happen to know what their… fixations are?"

“The ones in Thunder Bay are extremely sappy and fixated on one another. The one in Sudbury was forcibly turned and, probably because of that, his initial drive was survival but he’s bent it towards comfort.”

…Interesting. Well, she can sure relate to the survival-comfort one. "On the face of it, they don't sound likely to be a problem even if I do run into them. Have I got that right, or would they be a problem?"