estoria | I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

Entry tags:

I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

Who:

mermaiding & you!
When: 2/24ish?, ICly
Where: Wherever there's still deep flooding
What: Oona struck a deal with Maris and got her scale back, meaning she can turn back into her mermaid form. She's finally taking it out for a spin.
Rating/Warning: Vaguely NSFW, because mermaids do not wear clothes.

[She hadn't expected it to go easily. The process of removing her tail had been painful and clumsy to begin with-- she had never used that magic before, and she had never had to replace said tail either. She knew, in theory, hwo to, but it had taken her a few times to finally get the magic right.

The process had been just as painful-- was it always going to be painful, or was she just inexperienced, doing something wrong? Every movement ached as her muscles got used to the familiar movements of swimming again.. or maybe it had something to do with this crash of energy? Who knew.

She did feel tired, but that wasn't important right now. She decided against going her full form (there was no need for someone to actually mistake her for a monster and try to kill her right off the bat), but the more familiar half-form that most people associated with mermaids was fine enough.

It felt like flying, twisting through the waters, her gills burning with unfamiliar use. It had taken more time than she'd like to admit to get used to using them and she'd spent far too long accidentally trying to use her lungs and choking herself. But now that she was getting used to it, she wasn't sure she'd ever actually leave...]

[Option A]

[She'd never get truly tired of swimming around, but the space isn't that large, so it isn't long before she gets bored--and that's when she takes to terrorizing poor passer-bys. She waits until someone's standing near the edge of the water and slowly surfaces, watching to make sure their attention isn't on the water itself and...

GRABS THEIR ANKLE.

And immediately bursts out laughing at their reaction. Maybe it's you she grabbed? Maybe a random NPC whose panicked screams make you feel like jumping in to help out or investigate? Either way, Oona's clearly having a grand ol' time.]

[Option B

[There's definitely something moving in the water. You might see a flash of golden hair, or light reflecting off blue scales. Maybe you see a light, glowing faintly deep below...

Either way, it entices you to look closer. If you kneel on the ledge and lean over the water to try and get a closer look, you're in for quite the surprise. Oona's stirred up the debris and dirt below to mask her ascent to the surface; male or female or anything inbetween, it doesn't matter; lean in close enough and you'll suddenly find a pretty mermaid breaking the surface to press a kiss to your mouth.

It's a quick one and she swims away a bit right after with a bright laugh and a grin]

[Option C]

[Okay, so maybe the drain on her energy was more than she was anticipating. She pulls herself up out of the water, only barely managing to get herself on land before she curls up on her side and promptly goes to sleep. Her tail dips into the water, occasionally swaying absently and causing ripples in the water.

She may even start snoring softly, but either way it's probably not a good idea for her to just remain there hanging out, right?]

[Option D]

[WILD CARD. Got another prompt you wanna try out? Maybe Oona manipulated the water to splash a nice wave at your character? Maybe you dropped something in the water for Oona to discover?

Go crazy it's all yours'!]

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[ He's fairly sure that Oona can take care of herself— she's not as young as she looks, that's already been established— but his frown lingers for a second until he sees fit to settle back into reserved neutrality, with a little bump of his knee upwards. ]

How does the transformation work. Is it painful?

[ A brief rummage inside his pockets comes up with a canister that resembles a mint tin, one that he shows to indicate that he also goes through a process. As vague as the gesture is... ]

Tell me if I should get out of the way.

[ he might have a slight masochistic streak, but that has nothing to do with anything?! makoto's only strict because he cares enough to motherhen people into law-abiding submission, or so it goes. a nagger of the highest degree, undoubtedly.

scanning the water for a minute or so, he's taken option b out for a joyride, ready to flee before he attracts any (mortifying) undue attention, but oona breaks through the detritus of flotsam with a rippling splash, which he instinctively shies away from, yanking back yet again with a harried gasp. ]

Oona?!

[ completely derailed, his gaze bewilderingly travels back and forth between her svelte form and the water, eventually coming to a stop as he peers unevenly at her. eventually makoto forgoes his sheepishness for flustered stammering. ]

Yes, I ... I'm not used to being kissed, or anything.

[ considering how last one went, he'd all but sworn off the practice, but that had no bearing on his current predicament. on closer examination, however, something about her inflection — lighter, ebullient with joy — that has his scrabbling for an answer. ]

You seem really happy. Did something good happen?

Surprising number of people are not. Human culture is so strange.

[BUT ENOUGH TALK ABOUT HOW WEIRD HUMANS ARE. He asked the Magic Question and Oona practically beams at it.]

Yes, yes! Very good! [She raises her tail to slap at the water, playfully sending some of the water his way]

My tail! I have gotten my tail back! [She can't contain her happiness, so she flips back under the water, racing around with all the power she can muster from her tail. It takes her less than a minute to burn through her burst of energy and surface again, but she's still smiling brightly.] I have never been happier!

Ah, suppose that is true... But will they not expect an heir? That is how some clans work, yes? It is no so much for ours', except for the, eh... main family, suppose you could say. But even then, someone stronger could come and take the power. Most just prefer it stays with the family now. Is easier that way.

[Well that might not actually be true since she only has her family's word about it to go off of, and they'd bee pretty content to have the head mermaid stay the head and continue through her family line. It wasn't like Oona herself had any worldly knowledge beyond her family's opinions there.

And who really cared about politics anyway!!]

[She glances curiously to the tin, but nods at the question, her smile a tad bitter.] Yes, it is.

My mother... could make it look so beautiful. The power to do this came from her family, her clan. She taught me, a little, before I left to explore. She said even if I could not do it fully, it would impress my cousins in the north when I visited. Make them like me, and also easier to learn.

...Of course, I did not see them before I was captured. It took me long time to figure out how to complete the magic. [It's deceptively simple, though she feels a little self-conscious actually doing it in front of someone. Her hand sweep over her tail, from the top towards the bottom as if brushing the scales off of her. At first she seems fine, but as the scales begin to peel away and disappear, Oona's face screws up in pain, teeth digging into her bottom lip.

The whole process takes maybe only two minutes, but at the end of it her lip is bleeding and her shoulders shake from the effort, but her legs are back and there's a scale roughly the size of her palm sitting in her hand, a brilliant blue like the rest of her scales.

She exhales slowly and sits up straight again, bending her legs as if testing them and wincing from the effort. It's a good thing she's got that coat on too, since she's now totally naked. Oops.]

..It is not supposed to hurt. I am just... no good at this sort of thing. [A half-whispered confession and she shakes her head, mildly disappointed in herself. It's another reminder of what her captivity cost her; if she could have learned it properly, that right way...]

I will be able to move and walk in a few minutes. The pain will go by then. Got captured before because I tried to move right away, did not let myself get used to it. [Oona rubs at her legs, trying to speed up the process and will away the lingering pain]

Haha, I think it's just handled a little differently. See, it's normal for people to save their kisses for people they really love.

[ and here he is, parroting a tenet of rin's philosophy like a true romanticist, sappy and maudlin and just that side of unforgettable. makoto edges forward by a few more degrees, only to smacked in the face with water. nice. stunned, his astonishment lasts all of five seconds until he lurches forward to fling back a handful of water at her ... general direction, since she's momentarily disappeared under the waves. shoot. nagisa would've definitely hit the mark, easy. he needs to up the ante on his timing.

but her enthusiasm is contagious, since his face breaks into a wide, wide smile, bright around the edges, like he's just ascertained the safety of his siblings (ran and ren, who he hasn't seen for months now, his little brother and sister who never so much as committed a single misdeed in their lives).

makoto can discern it through the water now, lucent scales that glimmer just beneath the depths, catching the light, turning refractive. his surprise cuts short with a single admission, falling out of his open mouth. ] Amazing.

[ he jolts upright out of lack of composure, nerves gone ravenously jittery with excitement. ]

How did you find it? Was it returned to you? [ and then, in a warmer tone still: ] I'm so thrilled for you, Oona! It definitely suits you best.

[ It's difficult to watch the whole thing, not because the transformation itself is unseemly, but because of the clear amount of excruciating pain that comes along with it. His expression darkens, but only enough that it's a fleeting moment of moroseness that Oona won't have to deal with later. ]

...It must be frustrating.

[ The tone here is measured, calm but not unkind. He reaches out to wipe Oona's torn lip with the high collar of his jacket, dismissive of the red streak it leaves on white fabric. It's no great loss to him. ]

If it hurts, say so. If you need to rest, also say so. [ A beat, and he appends: ] ...There's nothing and no one here to judge you.

[She pauses a moment, a snarky comment on the tip of her tongue-- not everyone, she wants to say, because all that really matters are the people she actually cares about, but...

Well. It should be habitable enough to fit all of them too. So she nods in understanding and sighs a little, ready to change the subject to less serious things] You are no fun, Sousei. Take things too seriously! Do you know what 'joke' is? Do you know how to tell one?

[Her eye flick to those ear...hair.. .things?? Even as she nods in acceptance, she's clearly distracted.

She scoots closer, shamelessly reaching for one]

Are these real? What are they? Want to touch!

Optimistic. [But it's said with a sort of exasperated amusement and fondness, like Lee is just some weird pet she can't help but find cute.]

The power of love and friendship and things like that? Like on cartoons on tv. Do you truly believe such things will change the world-- this world?

[She's curious even though she has an idea of how he'll respond] Do you not think that, eh... Naive?

Is not weird. [Well, a little, but she would've offered anyhow. She pulls herself up onto the ground so she can lay her tail out fully for him]

Go ahead, you may touch. So long as you do not try to pry at the scales, it will not hurt. I am very proud of my tail. [So being lavished with attention is A+++ in her book.]

[It could never be said that Oona wasn't vain, and she practically glows with pride under the praise and Makoto's awe. hell yeah, her tail is beautiful and she's beautiful and if only those damn scars weren't everywhere...

No, there wasn't any time to dwell on that.]

That man who came, who flooded the city? Talked with him. He and I are very alike. [Well, they're not human at least.] We made a deal, and he gave me my scale back so as to transform again!

Ah... Of course, will have to be human again when water disappears... [her life is truly suffering.]

[She pauses, not answering for a moment. Not because she doesn't want Yang to come, but because she... Well, she didn't expect to want her to come, and she didn't expect for Yang herself to volunteer.]

...You would? [Ah yes, they were friends, sure, but sometimes it still surprised Oona to remember what that actually meant.] I would-- That is... yes, I would like you to come too. If they accept me, I would like you to know that too.

[She wants to scoff at his observation, but ends up jumping in surprise when he suddenly tends to her lip.] Ah, your coat-- [She frowns at the streak of red, hoping it'll come out and not be some weird, constant reminder of the mermaid who showed too much skin.

Her eyes flick to his face and then down to the ground, slowly hugging her knees to her chest.] ...It hurts. And I'm tired. [She feels like she doesn't quite have to repeat that, since it's obvious and she's said before, but 'it hurts' and 'I'm tired' encompasses much more than just the pain in her legs and her general sleepiness. Being away from home and family hurts. Trying to pretend she doesn't care about the scars that form ugly paths over her once-beautiful skin exhausts her.

Oona rubs her face briefly and takes a deep breath, stretching her legs out in front of her again.]

...You do not have to stay, you know. Will find a place to sleep. [She stifles a yawn and despite her words it seems more likely she'll just. lay down on the ground here again... Oona no.

Actually, that makes her wonder, and she looks at him fully again] Are you staying somewhere?

Edited 2015-09-15 03:11 (UTC)

[ to be honest, makoto internally flinches every time he catches an eyeful of her scars, but in the same token, they're proof that she's alive, making it so far on nothing less than single-minded resolve. they're horrible, but they don't disfigure her — not like the expression she'd taken on that day in the flood, teeth bared sweet in terrible reminiscing.

it doesn't occur to him to ask her about the scars, either.

at her prompting, he backtracks his timeline to the day the flooding abated, slowing to a crawl — he'd definitely encountered zack and rin, even escaped from a torrential wave with edgeworth in tow, but none of those encounters seemed to fit the bill as much as the message that played through the derelict residential district, the two individuals he'd briefly sighted from a distance.

at the time, approaching them seemed like asking for a death wish. abruptly, his expression fizzles out strangely. ] ... You're alike? Um, what kind of deal did you make with him?

[ it's not the tail itself he's worried about — he can see it now, shimmering translucent through the water, as mesmerizing as oona herself — but the repercussions of making such a peculiar transaction. the price she paid couldn't have possibly been negligible if she received her tail in return for it. ]

[Makotos' the first person to actually ask this question, and Oona blinks slowly. She won't lie, of course, so she tilts her head]

We are alike. We hate CERES, and there is... understanding there, suppose you could say. That is all I can think to describe it.

As for deal... It was a memory. The happiest memory I could think of. Of course, I do not know what that memory was now. [Which does bother her a little, but she shakes her head] It does not matter. It was but a small price to pay to have this back to me. [She slides a hand adoringly against the scales at her hip and smiles slightly.] Will make more happy memories.

[ it's not like a lie would've made the bargain better, in any case. she's already given the payment up long after he's asked the question, which in of itself has no bearing on her circumstances now with a tail she can only use with any ease in the water. his mouth thins to a line at her words, but he makes no comment on the former subject. makoto can't rid her of her hatred, even as his own doubts about CERES continue to aggregate, heavy and distended, bearing down on him with every passing day.

it's the fee she levied over that bothers him the most. horrifically, it bears some convoluted analogue to what happened to haru that night, his bout of amnesia over the nights prior, although that memory had to be the farthest thing from the singularly defining moment of his life.

he can't vilify her desire for her tail, either — the lengths she'd gone to be freed, only to lose the only tenuous point of connection tying her to her friends and family. instead, makoto tentatively reaches out, one palm lying consolingly on her shoulder, head bent to examine her expression, not her tail. ]

It's okay. Memories are only memories, right? Now you have all the more reason to make even happier ones, now. The happiest you've ever had.

[ his smile is scalding his mouth now, a trembling consolation, but he continues speaking without a discernible break. ]

... Do you want to swim together with me? I think I saw a place not too far off from here that would be great for diving. Scoping through, too, since most of it still pretty waterlogged. I doubt we'll have a chance like this again anytime soon.

[ Oona... you can't just sleep out here in the open?! But here's Adolf, who doesn't really have the heart to take his coat back from her. He's going to just let her keep it for now, since she's still. Not wearing clothes. It'll save him from having a heart attack, really.

Also, he'd say something about it being difficult to just up and leave after hearing someone express how things hurt, but he figures that that much can be left unspoken. ]

Yeah. My old room. It's mostly intact.

[ Intact enough, he means. He's not picky, and there's a light shrug to go along with that sentiment. ]

—You can keep the coat, by the way.

[Her brow furrows slightly and she looks at the coat with a frown] ...Will not keep forever. It is important to you, yes? Would be difficult to find other exactly like it, probably.

[or maybe not, in this place... Still!!] Will return it to you. [Ad then she smiles, amused] Ah, but, not right now. You can not handle even my chest exposed, am afraid you would explode from embarrassment if tried to give it back now. [Sure, make fun of the totally normal reaction one would have to a suddenly naked person... Gj Oona.

But she settles again quickly, their talking distracting her from the pain-- it's beginning to fade anyhow.]

Mine was destroyed. [She pouts suddenly] And all my jewelry with it! Had so many pretty things, and they are gone! Stupid... [Only part of this flooding thing she's really mad about, tbh. All the money she wasted on anything shiny and sparkly that caught her eye...]

[He shakes his head.]

In some ways, it might be naive to believe that. But I know that it is possible, even outside of those cartoons! Because I have known a fellow youth... Naruto-kun!! He has come so far and done so much. He has overcome so many enemies who were believed to be unbeatable. And he saved our world!

Because of that, Oona-san... I cannot let go of this belief that is stirred in my heart of youth. [He presses a hand over his chest.] I will hold onto my optimism just like Naruto-kun. I know that this world can be changed for the better too!!

[Kaoru sure doesn't despite being deeply embroiled in them?! POLITICS, who needs 'em...]

It's certainly the easiest option in some situations. For me, it isn't much of a priority even so. Selecting an heir isn't as much of a priority when one has no need to worry about a deadline.

[Being a long-lived species sure is nice sometimes! Even if that definitely doesn't negate the importance of heirs, but it has more to do with shitty demon blood politics and Kaoru would rather stick his fingers into an electric socket than explain any of that.]

[ Her comment about his embarrassment has him look slightly perturbed for a moment, long bangs tilting over his face to cast his expression in half-shadow. But he gets over it, and he breathes a soft exhale through his nose, almost as if he's dryly amused. ]

I can take the jacket back and leave. But some other person is going to start stripping to give you clothes after I go— I'm saving them the hassle.

[ What a tsun. Green eyes still flicker towards her legs, gauging the level of pain that may or may not be lingering while he considers her indignance over her lack of 'pretty things'.

A wave of the hand, here. ]

—And mourn more important losses. You still have 'pretty things'.

I'm sure they will. I mean, we'll have to figure out a way to get there first, but once we do, I'm totally up for a journey!

[ And she'd feel better about not letting Oona go it alone, too. ]

[The touch on her shoulder makes her-- not flinch, exactly, but she does give him a sharply curious look before relaxing. It wasn't unwanted so much as surprising--she was used to initiating contact with people first, and hadn't expected Makoto to do so. Then again, he had been the one to take her hand first when they'd met.

So she tilts her head and listens, nodding in agreement.] Yes, that is true. For gift such as this, would have gladly given much more. [She'd been fully prepared to give up a lot more, in fact, and indeed had expected something more...gruesome. Thankfully it hadn't come to that anyway.

There isn't much time to dwell on that morbid line of thought anyhow, because his question has her eyes lighting up and a grin appearing easily]

Yes, yes! Let us swim! Ah-- [A pause and she tilts her head] You are not worried? May try to drown you again.

[Okay no she wouldn't, she had promised after all, but she wanted to see just how much he believed her supposed-honesty]

[Oona hums in acknowledgment. Sure, she can understand that, being from such a long-lived species herself.

So, with that curiosity sated, Oona moves on to the next topic.] Will you swim with me now, Kaoru? Or at least soon, before water disappears? [Her smile is quick and wicked]

Promise, I will not drown you! Made promise to someone else that I would stop that. [How... How reassuring.]

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I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

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