introspective . curious . otherworldly

---

"..."

Cortes is a perfectly normal girl.

From what Rafael has been able to piece together, Cortes emerged from the waters off the coast of Smelt Bay after a peculiar tidal swell swept Magritte into the sea late one chilly September night. It's likely that Cortes was to thank for Magritte's improbable survival. She was first spotted standing at the treeline of the forest that boardered their little island cottage, calling Rafael's name in a ragged tones that seemed to mimic Magritte's voice. Initially, Raf dismissed it as a trick of his mind. Magritte, the real Magritte, was upstairs recovering from a fever the developed after her harrowing time in the frigid pacific.
Indeed, once Magritte had recovered, the strange apperation that haunted Rafael from the treeline fell silent and unseen. Until Magritte invited it inside one following evening.

The creature appeared only vaguely human, at best; a malleable otherworldly approximation. It did not speak, but it did sing with a broad assortment of tones and voices, often several at once. One of its favorite voices was Magritte's. It sang a nonsense ballad to Orion in a shivering, breathless cadence--one that Magritte recognized as a little diddy to muttered to the night sky in vain effort to stave off the freezing slumber. This further lends to Rafael's theory that it was this creature who rescued Magritte that night.

The entity returned every evening thenafter. It would bring fish and oysters from the sea, Magritte would invite it in, and Rafael would prepare a dinner for the three of them together. Each night, the creature would appear more and more familliar; more human.
Finally, one evening, it asserted a name for itself; Cortes, after the island their cottage was built upon. And from that day forward, Cortes was assimilated into their humble home as a third roommate.

Cortes is a highly curious, observant, and easily enraptured sort. She does not speak, but Raf and Magritte have been learning ASL with her for ease of communication. She has developed an almost single-minded fondness of her two musical roommates, both of whom are the sole recipiants of her enthusiasticly warm affections. Towards all others, she is mostly aloof--but never meanly so.