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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Your grandmother was wise. [She seems pleased regardless, watching his fingers dip into the water. This water isn't the ocean water of her home or anything like that, but there's still a connection there, a feeling of belonging. The water was part of her as much as she was part of it. From the sea she was born and to the sea she would return, but for now the water she found here could substitute.

She watches the line of his hand, where his fingers disappear into the water and sighs softly, raising her gaze to meet his at the question.] Hmm. Made deal. That man, the one who destroyed things and flooded? Talked to him. He gave me my tail back.

[Her tail swishes through the water a little faster to show it off some, clearly proud of it.] Do you want to see it? [Out of the water, she means.]

[the slight intonation of agreement is inarticulate, a hum of soft sound mostly lost in favor of the movement of the water. not purely ambidextrous, haru's hand eventually just idles in the water, the rest of him already missing being in it entirely even if the last time was less than pleasant. at his right side, his arm remains in a sling, mostly healed by korra -- another being of water as far as haruka is concerned, though he'd know more if he asked her -- but needing real time to fix what's left. he counts himself fortunate that she could handle his head injury and back, so he doesn't complain though he's frustrated. want to swim, he thinks again and it means more than that -- almost always has -- but he refocuses back on oona for now.

ordinarily people don't hold his attention for long or with great credence; so it makes sense that the 'people' he's met who do stay stuck in his head, are not quite after all.

his brow pinches a little at the mention of the flood and the being supposedly responsible. on the one hand, it could have killed many people. on the other hand, he clearly was able to restore -- in some respect -- what should have been oona's from the beginning, if not for people. too complicated in the end, haru chooses to zero in on the benefit, eyes arrowing clean across the water to where oona's tail flickers like the shine of so many precious stones just beneath the surface.]

I'm glad you have it again.

[what he means is: people should never have taken it from you in the first place.

the shift in haru's presence is subtle but there -- a quiet fervor, that cornerstone way of caring -- deep and stubborn.]

Yes. Please.

[his answer for the offer is without hesitation but still polite, blinking once and rubbing at his eyes as if to force the tiredness out. he won't miss this opportunity.

at the back of his mind, part of him is still preoccupied with the kiss after all but....not for a readily apparent reason. oona's kiss had been playful and brief and less of an assault than if it was anyone else (almost) but it still catches on part of haruka's subconscious in a way that cannot be wholly dismissed. his chest feels a little tight and his head aches; as if he's trying to remember something. though on the outside he looks as calm-natured as can be.]

I am glad as well. [Her tone is softer, betraying her own emotions on the matter. Despite her playful attitude and cheer, it hits her deep in the core. She has her tail back, her identity feels whole again.

But on the other hand, it leaves her hanging at a crossroads. Her life had been consumed with the idea of getting her scale back. Revenge, restitution... And now? What did she have? It was strange to think herself aimless now. She had had no grand plans following getting her scale back. She'd assumed she would either die in the process, or die sometime afterwards, giving herself up to seafoam. Now she didn't have quite that desire to throw herself into waves or into a mindless slaughter, and she wasn't sure where to go from there.

Probably, she thinks, it's better to not think on it at all.

So she doesn't. She moves to the edge of the water and pushes herself up onto land, sliding herself up so she can lay her tail out. Her tail almost seems to sparkle in the light, and she looks down on it with open pride.]

Can touch, if you like. You can not harm me. [By which she means there's nothing he can really do to damage her scales unless he suddenly sprouts claws or something.]

[her words have all the impression of a breath finally released and haru smiles. like all of his smiles, this one is subtle -- the nuanced up-tic of his mouth at both corners, brief but true. some things do not need finite articulation and it's not hard to draw the conclusion: how without her scale, without her tail, oona was not fully oona. she couldn't be. yet haruka would not make the mistake of paralleling this to legs. he doesn't think he feels a certain way about them except that they help him swim. it's not the same in any case.

when oona draws herself up onto the ground, haru's eyes are all for her tail, which amounts to his gaze being politely averted from the natural reality of mermaids not being those who wear clothes. what he said before stands: she's beautiful. the scales, the soft shimmer which so easily mimics light on water, catches and casts like oceanic stars. he reaches with his left hand to brush along where her ankle would be if she had legs, the tapering shape of the tail.]

Amazing...

[his utterance is so soft she might not hear it and when he withdraws his hand, it's reverent, even as he raises it to adjust the sling on his shoulder gone slightly askew. peering at her, eye-level for how he's still crouched down, he adds,]

Thank you.

[it seems appropriate, given the permission to stare and touch and the like, but also just for speaking with him. it's not haru's forte -- conversation -- but it comes somewhat easier with oona for whatever reason. his eyes lower and his mind flickers back to the earrings she gave him. there is some regret there; even if they were in the apartment before it was destroyed, there's slim to no chance of them being there now -- more likely sunken to the depths of the flooding in some rubble in the vicinity.]

[it's a little strange. She had seen the way the scientists had watched her and examined her tail. She could remember their hands on her, turning and twisting, being gentle but still, somehow, managing to set her teeth on edge with how they handled her.

This... was different. Very different. She didn't feel instant revulsion at his touch, and though a thread of anxiety raced under her skin, it faded quickly. It was like being worshiped, almost. She watches him like a hawk, head tilting slightly when he looks to her face again. She doesn't blush, exactly, but there's an intensity to her gaze like she's trying to dissect him with her eyes alone, see what makes him tick.

Her breath releases, slow and measured, and she nods in acceptance of the thanks. Her gaze moves from his face to the sling and her brow furrows a bit in concern.] You were injured? [Her eyebrows raise then, understanding] Ah, because of the destruction? Or from before that?

[they would make a curious picture to anyone passing by, if passing by were so simple in tellus' current state: a mermaid and a boy in what would appear to be a benign but no less intense staring contest. that is, of course, not what it is at all, but haru matches oona for solid eye contact, something definitively alive in the wordless interaction happening here. just as oona does not exactly blush, neither does haru, though he lets his gaze slip past her shoulder to the water for a second, then back again. before arriving here, he had gotten more acquainted with that piercing sort of observation -- but where he recoiled from it harshly back then, with the oona he simply finds himself experiencing a rare bout of self consciousness. it's not about the kiss, though that would make the most sense, and still bothers him for unrelated, unclear reasons, a snag at the back of his consciousness that won't come clean. rather, in their case, it's just a matter of not knowing what she's looking for. he has, as far as he himself knows, no more to his story.

so when she continues the dialogue, it's almost a relief, though in his half-asleep state, it takes him a little longer than normal to respond.]

Oh...it's...yeah. When one of the buildings collapsed...

[he looks away, shrugs lopsidedly and tries not to think about it too deeply.]

It should be better soon, though.

[actually, he's not sure about that. korra did all she could, and he doesn't know precisely how that factors into it other than to see what happens -- whether the ordinary convalescence period is halved or more than that or less.

sooner would be better of course.

i want to be in the water, he thinks again, frustrated, though it doesn't really show on his features.]

[She frowns in open concern, leaning in to gently touch at the sling, providing no pressure out of fear of hurting him somehow.]

Ah... Am sorry, that it happened. Hope it will heal quickly. [She looks-- guilty, almost, and she squirms a little.] I do not know healing magic. I... did not learn these things, before was taken. In this situation, I am useless.

[Oona sighs and slides her hand away to rest it on the ground and hold her weight as she lounges.] When it is better, we will swim. [She nods, as if deciding this as fact. It'll happen, because she's said so.]

I want to swim with you. You are friends with the others, yes? Ah... Rin, and Makoto? Swam with Rin. Will swim with you too. Makoto eventually, maybe. [She looks suddenly amused.] If he will trust me in water with him again.

[ordinarily haru would pull away for anyone reaching for him -- often even friends if he has enough warning -- but as if in paltry reciprocation for being allowed to touch her tail, he stays still when oona grazes the sling. he would not call her childlike; she's been through too much. but some beings radiate brightness that most easily goes hand-in-hand with that sort of stereotype.

tellus remains -- continues -- to be a learning experience. oona says she didn't learn healing magic, that she is useless, and haru frowns, shakes his head, and hopes she might be able to understand: you aren't useless. the way it's paired with before was taken stirs something nauseous in the pit of him but he lets her steer the conversation to something else.]

I want to swim.

[they agree on this, his voice deceptively calm for all the anxiousness sleeping thick under his skin. haru too is sleepy and this is all that has kept him from making More Bad Decisions but for how long this lasts is anyone's guess. he does blink, brow arched briefly in confusion at the last thing oona says however. he tilts his head.]

Makoto trusts most people.

[blue eyes glue themselves abruptly to the water though for the unspoken addendum: except me.

though this remains an assumption more than fact, it's how he feels. not that he'd tell anyone.

which is part of the problem of course.]

Can understand that. [She wants to swim too, though at least she can, for now, before the fresher water runs out. Soon all she'll have is the fountain or the pool in the gym, if she ever felt desperate enough for that.

most people he says, and Oona's gaze turns sharply on him, taking in every detail. The line of his body, the way his eyes avert and find the water. She tilts her head.] Almost drowned him, when he met. [And then, because for some reason this always needed to be explained in case the wrong idea is taken from it, she continues:] Was only playing. But he was very mad.

[A tilt of her head] Most people, you said? [AKA, so what did you do to think that?]

[he can't help himself. even in his sleepiness, haru's spine goes ramrod straight, eyes sharpening in a way they simply have not been yet this whole time.]

Even if it's just playing...don't do that. Not to Makoto.

[then he remembers who he's talking to, that she couldn't possibly know, that she isn't even human. how much haru himself hates it when people simply expect him to know or understand certain things, and the tiredness returns. he shifts, glancing away all over again.]

Please.

[he adds, which sounds like an apology and it's clumsy but he means it, shakes his head and cannot meet oona's eyes again when he answers her question.]

Most people. Never mind.

You'll see. If you get to know him.

[in his own ways, haru is plenty evasive, a star-act if disappearing is the only act happening. he shrugs his own words away and absently readjusts his sling, returning to crouch near the water's edge again, letting his left hand trail like he did before. there is something soothing. and maybe it's only because water has been his solace all his life but it's a little late to change that now. he can't explain himself to people he knows -- rin, makoto -- and so trying with someone new isn't something he'd consider.

his mind snags on makoto though; if it didn't feel like a trespass, he'd tell oona: makoto is afraid.

deep-hearted fear. people made of shadows walking in a solemn line for those they've lost. an ocean uncontrollable in the dead of night.

the fear of things being taken really.

it's not haru's to tell though.

he swallows a thought. not ordinarily stumbling to keep conversation, he does find he wants to get away from the topic of makoto badly enough that he hears his own words come out of his mouth with some surprise,]

I lost them.

...the earrings.

In the flood.

[his ears are pink which is evidently where haru's blushes start -- a fainter cast across the sharps of his cheekbones and he ducks his head a little more.]

I'm sorry.

[ they were a gift after all. he never even got to wear them, come to think of it. ]

[She blinks slowly and tilts her head back, acknowledging the change in him. Makoto meant a lot to him, she could tell, though she couldn't be sure how far that ran.] Said I would not, so I will not. I do not lie, so if give my word, it will be upheld.

[She simply watches him then, quiet and content to remain quiet until he moves the conversation along himself. Even if he doesn't, that's fine-- Oona is no stranger to silence and surely she'll find a way to fill it if it stretches too long.

Which is very nearly does, but thankfully Haru speaks up again. She tilts her head to the side, confused, until he clarifies that he means the earrings.] Ah. I understand, it is okay. Lost many of my pretty things in the flood and damage.

[She pouts a little at this] But, is fine. Things can be replaced. People can not. At least you lost only earrings and not yourself. [She reaches out to place a hand on his head in a comforting manner and smiles. Then her hand slides down the side of his face to grip his chin carefully, trying to turn his head slightly to look at his ears.] Are ears pierced? Can get you something you can wear, next time. I make plenty of money, so spending is not problem for me. Can find pretty things that can remind you of the ocean and will match your eyes.

[And then, as if in after thought she adds] I like your eyes.

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I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue

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sorry so slow /reaches for oona ;;

it's okaaayy /smooshes haru and oona together....

/smooshes them too tbh shakes the heavens!!!

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