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[ the surface is a perilous place, forbidden by her peoples, and not without reason. theirs is an ancient colony, hunted near to extinction and so to preserve the whole they must take care. it has been many generations since last they interacted with the land creatures in any formal capacity, commerce and communion with mankind strictly forbidden since time immemorial. so much time has passed that more than like they have become myth to any who do not know the secret of their existence, and that is just as they prefer it. long lived as they are, new births are rare and come slowly; it will be millennia yet still to replenish their numbers to what they once were.

but alisaie has ever had a taste for the forbidden, a curiosity for the unknown, and a fierce wanderlust. she loves her peoples and her home but it is not enough, it shall never be enough, and as she grows and comes of age she is more and more dissatisfied.

they cannot stop her visiting the surface. theirs are a free people, and the sea is vast, parties of hunters and workers always coming and going. no one tracks her, and she says nothing of her visits above, of how she peers at passing ships and lays on warm rocks beneath the sun to watch the waves roll over the shoreline. she does not fear mankind perhaps as she should, and the more she quietly, secretly observes them, the more assured she becomes of their goodness. their behavior is not so different from her own, from what little she can glean from the lives of the sailors she watches - they laugh and love and suffer and work together, and they build such strange, incredible things..

she has watched this ship for several days, following its path, blending with pods of dolphins to swim near the surface during the day, risking more under cover of dark, when she peers through the portholes and listens to their voices on deck. their language is foreign to her, but the tones of their words speak plenty, their expressions easy to read. it's a small group of men, few, but perhaps they are brothers, for how fondly they seem to behave toward one another, laughing and sharing food, roughhousing playfully, the small, fair-haired one especially, who seems always to be smiling about something.

storms at sea are common and set in quickly, often with little warning. it's late in the night when it hits, stirring alisaie from her doze nearby, the crack and groan of wood cutting sharply through the water, the shouts of human voices muffled, but discernible to her keen ears.

alisaie is off like a shot, darting through the waters toward the source, but there is little enough to be done - the ship is split asunder before she can even reach it, and her heart sinks for those on board; the sea is no place for man, who braves much to sail her waters. they have paid the price. ]

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[ Of course she would ask about before he can think to skip ahead. His cheeks only redden further at her question. Alisaie had found so many things about the human world strange and unfamiliar to her, and this may yet be one other such thing. Sure, she understood the notions of friends and family, but...what about love? Falling in love? Would something like that even make sense to her?

...And yet, though he has no real reason to, he can't help but think that she must understand it. Perhaps this won't be so difficult to explain after all. ]

They're...in love. [ With a soft smile, he presses a hand to his heart. ] They're...like friends, and like family, too, but also...something more. Something...closer. And when people feel that way about each other, they...

[ He points a finger to his lips with a breathless laugh. ]

They kiss.

[ more difficult concepts. but her understanding of his language has grown in leaps and bounds, and so something of an understanding is forming. at least, she thinks so. perhaps he is referring to a.. mate? or a very close companion? it's hard to say, she hasn't learned much of the word love, this is the first he's really used it, so she isn't entirely certain of its meaning, or its weight.

but she seems to be in the right wheelhouse at least, in assuming that it is a gesture of affection. her people have their own of course, but this one is unfamiliar to her, and in all of her clandestine journeys to the surface, she has never seen this before. there is so very much nuance to their lives and cultures, and not all of it seems to overlap.

turning back toward the slide again, alisaie once more rests her chin upon her folded arms, gazing thoughtfully into the flickering image. ]

Hmm..

[ That should perhaps be enough, and he should move on now, but there's something in the way she continues to gaze at the screen that spurs him to go on in his explanation. Really, he should stop while he's ahead. He's never had a companion like that, he can't really know what it's like. And yet, his heart seems to know what his head does not, and he continues. ]

When you're in love...heh. It's like you're never alone, because even when you're not with that special person...you know they're thinking of you. It makes you warm all over, right from your heart, and you would do anything, anything you could just to make that person smile. Just to hear their laugh. Just to know that for one second, you made their life a little bit better. And they would do the same for you. It's...a partnership.

[ He gaze falls to her, watchful, even as she remains turned away. ]

They make you a better person, just from being around you...the make your world a wider, brighter place. They pick you up when you fall down, they finish your...sandwiches. And when you want to show them how important they are to you, that's when...you kiss.

[ He chuckles as his gaze falls down to his hands. ]

Must seem pretty strange, huh?

[ she listens carefully, but his meaning is difficult to distinguish. so much of what he says could be applied to family, or mates, or close companions, but she does her best to digest it all, to file it away to unpack later. much of her time, while he is away, is simply spent.. thinking. looking over the things he has given her, recalling their conversations, piecing together what it means to be a human. what his experience must be like. ]

No.

[ she says, softly, with a shake of her head. it is not so strange at all. still, she is curious. ]

Do you? [ she starts, searching for the words. ] Do you have.. love?

[ His eyebrows fly up, though really, it's not such a surprising question for her to be asking. Prompto had elaborated on what love was, and perhaps gave the impression that he had firsthand experience. He...doesn't, and though he certainly loves his friends, this kind of love is different. And no matter how many silly little crushes he's had in his life, he's not sure he can really say he's ever been in love. ]

M-me? [ A little, bashful laugh. ] N-no.

[ Though as he glances up to meet her eyes once more, he wonders how truthful that answer really is. ]

Guess I'm still searchin' for that special someone.

Mm..

[ though her age is ripe for finding a mate, alisaie has never really.. bothered to consider it. sure, she supposes that one day she would very much like a family, the idea of it has always been very dear to her, but she's not really stopped to consider how she would go about it. who she would choose to build this family with, and why. it's not been a priority.

mayhaps he is in the same predicament. she's not seen any sign of a mate or a partner, which he's just affirmed, but given his behavior it seems something he's interested in, something he wants. this comes as no real surprise, knowing him as she does now - he has a kind, loving heart, no doubt he would love to share it with someone. alisaie smiles gently. ]

Soon.

[ what human would not want him as a partner? he is kind and warm and gentle, even if he's a bit.. flimsy. and handsome, by human standards. that he's not found his Love already seems surprising, but she's nonetheless quite confident that he will.

until then, she's turning back to the slides. more, please! ]

[ FLIMSY...but her vote of confidence is appreciated — obviously, if the way Prompto's cheeks redden is any indication. He holds her opinion in high regard, and even if this is a concept she only just learned about, if she thinks he'll find someone, then he believes her. She isn't wrong in thinking it's something he wants. It's just, as he said, a matter of finding the right person.

But yes, on to the next slide. Still smiling broadly, he clicks onto the next photograph. It's not dissimilar in theme from the last, but this one features a group of couples dancing together on a dance floor. ]

Oh! This is dancing. That's like...moving your body to the sound of music!

Dancing..

[ she understands. her people might not have two legs, but that does not mean that they cannot dance - only that their dance is different. they have music, they sing, and they move to the sound of it. but gods, dancing on two legs, feeling so heavy, it must be so much more complicated.. and restrictive.

still, alisaie smiles and lifts her tail from the water to give it a wave; she can't exactly dance in a little pool, but still.. ]

[ He can't help a warm, gentle laugh as she waves her tail. She's got the right idea! ]

Yeah, yeah! Guess you have something like that where you're from, too...

[ He wishes she could tell him more about her world, but alas, she has no convenient photographs to help her communicate. Not to mention she may not even want to talk about it much. Might still be a...sensitive subject. ]

[ it's definitely a sensitive subject, not only because thinking of home is mildly terrifying, but also because she is hesitant to release any information she does not absolutely need to. it's not that she does not trust prompto, but.. it would be so easy for one slipped detail to catch fire, and after the terrible danger she has already put her people in, she's hesitant to risk any more, no matter how innocuous it might seem.

and of course, there's the fact that her grasp on his language is not yet strong enough for her to properly convey her experiences in the detail she's sure he would prefer. not to mention, it would be a lie to say she's not far, far more interested in his life than she is in her own.

as evidenced by the way she gestures to the screen once again. are there any more?? ]