adelphoi | (no subject)

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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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[ it takes quite some time before alisaie is at last strong enough to attempt this change.

her people are possessed of powerful abilities, the knowledge of aether and how to harness and manipulate it - these ancient techniques are among the many reasons humanity was attracted to them, sought to use and control them. most normal human beings are unable to channel the energy of their star, and covetous as they can be, they thought perhaps they could use her people as conduits. for awhile, they succeeded. but no doubt the knowledge of these arts was lost to myth just like the knowledge of her people entirely.

she's said nothing to prompto, afraid to reveal it even to him, to expose the incredible power she can wield, and the myriad ways in which it can be used, but.. she trusts him, now more than ever, and surely this will only help in his endeavors to return her to the sea. if she can walk on two legs, it will be much easier to travel, surely. and she cannot deny that she also desires this for selfish reasons - to walk the world of man, to see the world as he sees it, and, in small part, to escape the physical restrictions that have hemmed her in for too long.

for many nights she practices while he sleeps, channeling aether through her body and encouraging the change, but it is tricky, difficult work, and it takes many nights for her to achieve it fully. or fully enough, at least. some scales still cling to her skin, and her limbs are longer still than is normal for a man, her ears different, gills still cut into her neck - but for all intents and purposes, she is human. or at least, human enough. as human as she can manage.

it's late in the night, or perhaps very early morning, and she does not want to interrupt his sleep, but - oh, she can't help herself. making her way out of the pool and down the hallway to his room is.. not easy, she stumbles many times, knocks over a stack of books, slides twice down the wall, but soon enough she reaches her destination. honestly, two legs is so annoying?? anyway, she trips twice over her feet in the short trip to his bed, which she falls onto quite unceremoniously - oh, it's so soft.. ]

[ Of several things, as he wakes up at the first crash in the hallway and clicks on his lamp, Prompto becomes quickly aware.

One, Alisaie comes barreling into his room and falls onto his bed.

Two, Alisaie comes barreling into his room with legs and falls onto his bed.

Three, she's also buck-naked.

This, understandably, is a lot for his brain to process in one go, and for a few moments, he is certain he must be dreaming. But then his senses start to take hold again, the surprise and shock clear writ upon his face, before his hands fly up to cover his eyes. She absolutely did not have some of those features before!!!

Choking, sputtering, he attempts to speak, though at present, he seems to be able to speak just as much as she can. ]

A-Alisaie, wh-what're you— y-y-your tail—

[ WHAT IS HAPPENING ]

[ ah, she has broken him.

okay, in hindsight, it might not have been a good idea to crash in on him in the middle of the night with this, but.. she was just too excited to wait! even if it meant knocking down nearly everything in his hallway to get here. it's fine.. it certainly isn't the first time she's wrecked his things. the bathroom might never recover.

and yet in the face of his reaction, alisaie can only beam with pride, rolling onto her back so she can lift one foot into the air and wiggle her toes. ]

Legs.

[ She makes it clear as day, lifting her leg into the air and wiggling her toes like that, and Prompto uncovers his eyes just enough to see that that is definitely a leg and not a tail. He isn't seeing things. She really has somehow...changed forms. ]

I-I can see that! [ Did she have those up her sleeve this whole time??? After he put her in a pool in his living room???? ] But — how?!

[ she doesn't have sleeves!

even in the face of his surprise and shock, she can't do anything but smile. alisaie has never managed something this difficult or complicated, so she's rather excited and more than a little proud of herself. ah, the possibilities! there's so much she can do now, things she never would have allowed herself to try before - when she will manage to find her way home again.. well. once more, it's something she is trying not to think about.

ah, but how to explain? ]

My people, we.. use the aether. We make.. change. Many things.

[ it's complicated to convey, with her limited vocabulary.. ]

[ She sure doesn't have sleeves! She has nothing. Not even the scales on her chest are protecting his poor virgin eyes...

As she explains, he slips out of bed, stepping quickly over to the closet to pull out some clothing. He's not a large guy, but she's smaller still, and one of his shirts should be more than suitable to make her...modest. Which she doesn't have to accept, but it'd be a lot easier for him to have this conversation with her if she wasn't naked, and if she wants to leave the apartment, she'll certainly have to —

But, gods, just the thought of it...she can walk. There are so many things she'll be able to do now that he's only told her about, not to mention how much easier it will be to get her home if she can disguise herself as a human.

In spite of his alarm, his grins, joyful and warm, as he tosses a shirt to her. ]

Here. Will you put that on? [ Look, it's not that he doesn't...appreciate the peep show, but it feels wrong, okay!! ] Alisaie, that's...that's amazing. I had no idea you could do something like this! We - we can do so many things now!

[ she has always been naked it's not her fault he didn't recognize it before!! these humans and their weird modesty..

which baffles her, because soon enough he is tossing one of his shirts at her, and she has no idea.. why. her brow furrows, and she lifts it in her hands, ooh it's soft, fabric feels nice, and it smells like him, which is nice too. but she's not sure what she's supposed to do with it. so she just sits up, and pools it in her lap, and forgets about it.

did he ask her to put it on? she wasn't paying attention. and he's never tried to put clothing on her before, so, maybe she just misheard. anyway. ]

Yes. [ a warm smile. ] Dance?

[ Oh, god, she's just. She's not putting the shirt on, okay. He keeps himself turned away, deep red from head to toe, though he still talks excitedly, bouncing on his heels as he considers all the possibilities now available to them. ]

Yeah, of course we can! [ Not that...he's any good, but he's bound to be better than a girl who just got legs in the last five minutes, right? ]

But...what about your tail?

[ Is it just...gone? ]

[ why is he still turned around? why is his face so red?? his ears, too, and his neck, and like.. all of him?? alisaie stares curiously at his profile. ]

Tail? What about it?

[ what does he mean? alisaie shifts in the sheets, thoughtful and uncertain, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. ]

Am I - ugly? Wrong?

[ why else would he be unable to look at her? he's certainly never had a problem before. she had thought he would be excited, happy, that they could do so many things that her tail had prevented her from, but.. maybe she was wrong. ]

[ Oh, no. No, no, that's not what he means to be communicating at all, but how is he even supposed to explain this? He's tried to before, when she'd gotten up close and personal with him in the bathroom (and thank the gods she's not in there anymore, he can pee in peace once more), but to no avail.

With a high-pitched groan, Prompto turns on his heel, turning his gaze up towards the ceiling. Even facing her makes his face feel like it's going to burst into flames. ]

No, no, 'course not! [ He waves his hands dramatically. ] It's just...

[ He cups his hands to his chest. Which is not really helping anything. ]

See, um...wh-when you're...like this, y-you have some...

[ kill him ]

...u-usually, girls keep these— [ He pats his chest. ] —and, uh, th-this— [ And now he gestures towards his crotch. ] C-covered. They're supposed to be private. I-I-I've j-just...never seen a girl like this before...

[ He sounds a bit like he might cry. ]

[ this is all... very confusing.

nevermind that she's still nowhere near fluent in his language, and the subject is confusing at best, but she's.. quite lost, here. all these places he's gesturing to are no different than what they've always been. certainly they may look a little bit different now, but that's all - he'd not asked her to cover herself before. ]

I.. see.

[ she doesn't, really. it makes little enough sense, to her. she'd assumed humans wore clothing for decoration and warmth, not out of any sort of.. modesty. what's there to be ashamed of? why hide?

but clearly it makes him uncomfortable, and that's enough to make her feel uncomfortable too, as if she's somehow misstepped, though she cannot understand how or why. alisaie bites her lip, looks down to the shirt in her lap and, after a moment's fussing, pulls it over her head.

it's on backwards. but she's trying. ]

[ Bless her, it's on backwards. He knows she's really trying though, and he can realize how strange it must be to her, when she's never had to cover herself up before in her life. But Alisaie is a fast learner, and really, he doesn't care which way she wears her shirt, so long as she wears one. Now he doesn't have to feel like he's seeing something he shouldn't be seeing.

Even though...yeah, those parts were always there. He's just. Not going to think too hard about that now, moving on!!!

He clears his throat several times, his voice still high-pitched those at least he can look at her now. ]

A-anyway...as I-I was sayin', we can absolutely try dancing now. Though we should...probably practice here some first, too.

[ He gets the feeling it's going to take her some time to get used to moving around on legs instead of a fin. ]

[ she still feels a little.. strange. embarrassed, though she has no idea why she should be, but embarrassment is one of those sort of contagious feelings that spreads easily.

at least he's looking at her again?? maybe these legs weren't as good of an idea as she had suspected.. her eyes find his again, but he's still red-faced and talking strangely. ]

Okay. Practice.

[ she'll have to learn to properly walk, first - that's probably important - she'd hardly managed to stumble and fall her way down the hallway to this room. it seems so strange and unnatural.

also hey, this bed is really soft..

alisaie flops down onto her back, gathering an armful of blankets up to her chest. ]

What is this? What is it for?

[ There's a cute girl on his bed, wearing his shirt, snuggling up in his blankets.

How did this happen.

He blinks a few times, as if jumpstarting his brain, bringing himself back to the present instead of marveling at this revelation. His life has been awfully strange lately, and this is yet one more thing. At least now she can leave the apartment. Once she...learns how to walk properly, anyway. Her odd behavior might still raise some eyebrows, but it's not like anyone would suspect her of being the missing mermaid.

He's getting ahead of himself, though. He chuckles, sitting down on the bed next to her, patting a hand against the blankets. ]

It's a blanket. They keep me warm while I sleep. Humans...we don't like to be cold.

[ she also has no pants on, remember. and uh.. no underpants, either. time to go to victoria's secret. ]

Hm..

[ she frowns thoughtfully, tugging the blanket in her fingers, feeling the texture of it. ]

Inconvenient. It is cold most of the time.

[ at least, in the depths of the sea it certainly is. she has, naturally, no issue with the cold. ]

I thought that is your clothing? Warmth?

[ Look, it's a long enough shirt, on her...and once he moves around to the head of the bed, he is at far less risk of any accidental panty shots, or, uh...lack-of-panty shots. Well, at least now he can say he's had a naked girl on his bed..... ]

Oh, well...it's both! [ He sits down on the edge of the bed, running his hand over the blanket. ] Clothes can keep you warm, but they also keep you stylish! And, uh, keep things covered that maaaybe other people shouldn't see.

[ That...goes doubly for him, and the barcode on his wrist. ]

[ style is a complicated topic that she is not ready for, prompto.. she doesn't even care for clothing at all to begin with, let alone stylish clothing. even now, as she's laying back, she's plucking idly at the front of the shirt she wears, like it's restrictive and uncomfortable.

because it is!! ]

Why not?

[ the blanket isn't uncomfortable though - it's pretty cozy, actually, and she bundles it nearer. ]

What is wrong with.. bodies?

[ Yeah, he's kind of hoping she won't ask him about style just yet, he's not ready to wrestle that one. He's having a hard enough time figuring out modesty. Though there are some...associated topics with that which are making it especially difficult right now. ]

Oh, uh...there's nothing wrong with them. It's just... [ He bites at his lower lip. Why. Why this. ] It's just, uh, men and women are, uh, different. From each other. As I'm...s-sure you've noticed.

[ HE KNOWS SHE'S NOTICED. ]

They stay covered because, because... [ He drops his head into his hands. ] Mermaids...have gotta mate, right? Uh. It has to do with...humans mating. Kinda. And, uh. Other things. Like...the sun?

[ is this making any sense ]

Humans wear clothes.. to mate?

[ this makes no sense at all. but wearing them not to mate is also ridiculous. basically, everything about clothing is ridiculous.

though, well, she might actually understand style more than modesty.. her people do plenty of things to beautify themselves, accessorizing is commonplace, but there's no modesty involved. humans are.. pretty much the only animals in the planet that are afraid of their own naked bodies, tbh. ]

The.. sun?

[ what??

?? ]

N-no, we wear clothes to cover what we - n-never mind.

[ There's no good way to explain this. Maybe Prompto will introduce Alisaie to Ignis so she can have a proper anatomy lesson, he would probably know what to say... ]

The sun can hurt your skin if you stay in it too long. So can a lot of other kinds of weather. Soooo, clothes are kinda like wearing armor, too!

[ Really flimsy, weak armor... ]

[ yeah prompto is probably like.. the worst of all the boys to explain anything to her at all, when it comes to people, at least. too bad she isn't asking about chocobos or cameras. ]

That is what I do not understand..

[ does he really think he can change the subject?? no?? alisaie turns over onto her side to more properly look at him, still nice and cozy in the blankie. ]

Why cover? Why ashamed?

[ If only. They'll get to cameras and chocobos someday, probably like, well after he's explained everything about penises and vaginas to her. If he's still alive by then...

Anyway, his attempt to deflect falls flat, and he lets out an exasperated little noise. What was wrong with just talking about the sun??? Ask more questions about that! ]

It's not about shame, it's just... [ He groans, but at last he looks up at her again. This is important, and even if he's the last person who should be explaining it to her, he is, and so he should at least make some effort to do it right. ]

There's...some parts of you you only want someone special to you to see. It's...remember when we talked about love? People...take off their clothes for the people they...love. Uh. Essentially.

[ Unless they're a stripper. But he is not explaining strippers to her today. ]

[ wow look, she knows what penises and vaginas are?? she's not naive!! her customs and social mores are just.. very, very different from his. ]

That is.. strange.

[ to say the least. ]

We have mates, and those who are.. close.

[ but the same standards don't really apply, for many reasons. ]

I guess...mermaids just do things differently than humans do. [ Which is not at all surprising, considering, they're mermaids. ] I, uh...I dunno. That's just the way it is, and I've never really thought about it all that much.

[ He's pretty okay with wearing clothes and not showing off his ding dong to everyone around. But he also gets why that must seem weird to her. She really has been naked this whole time, sweats... ]

Guess I probably should've explained some of this too you sooner, huh?

[ it's just a ding dong. as far as she's concerned it's no different from his face, of his arms, or his feet, or any other part of his body. but, you know, humans are super weird, so.

alisaie frowns thoughtfully, but it soon disappears into a yawn. she closes her eyes, clearly content and comfortable and not going anywhere. ]

You're strange.

[ she murmurs, tucking her face against his soft pillow. ]

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slams this tagback into your face

about time!!

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