adelphoi | (no subject)

[ 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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ 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. ]

[ ...Oh. She is...sure getting cozy there, isn't she? Not that...that's a bad thing, probably — but what if she falls asleep and turns back into a mermaid? Will she be okay? And if she falls asleep here, guess that means he's hitting the couch... ]

Oh, I'm the strange one, Miss Turned-My-Tail-Into-Legs? Suuuure. [ He chuckles softly. ] A bit tuckered out, there?

Mhm.

[ that's just magic. not ding-dong fear. way less weird. her eyes crack open though, to peer at him. ]

Tuckered?

[ Oh, right. She's still new to this language. She's picked it up so fast, it's easy to forget that she hasn't known it for very long at all. ]

It's just another word for tired. [ It's more of a cute way of saying tired, but he's already embarrassed himself enough tonight. He doesn't need to say something about her being cute now!! ]

Um, you're not...going to fall asleep here, are you?

[ What if her tail comes back and she gets all dry and crusty and dead??? ]

Mm.. hm?

[ is he saying words? she's just thinking about tuckered now, and about how it means tired, and about how that's reminding her of just how tired she is. it's the middle of the night, and it had taken so much energy to weave this spell.. with the initial excitement worn out, she's fading fast.

another yawn, and she shuts her eyes again, burrowing down comfortably. ]

Tuckered.

[ :weary:

There he goes, falling asleep on his bed, which seems pretty inadvisable, all things considered. Fine, then, if she reverse drowns because she wouldn't go back to her pool, it's not his fault!

He slips off of the bed, moving around to tug the blankets up over her. As she's taken over his bed, he's going to move to the couch in the living room, because he can't just. Share a bed with her. Especially when she's only wearing his shirt. Thank god he at least got her to put that on... ]

Heh...sleep tight, then.

[ He's gonna tuck her right in!! ]

[ she's not really sure about clothes still, but she could definitely get into this blanket and bed thing.. gravity has never much had an effect on her, but being pressed down into a cozy mattress is pretty dang nice compared with sleeping suspended in water.

except then he's gone from beside her, where he was nice and warm?? and alisaie's eyes open again, a deep frown turning down her mouth. ]

Where are you going?

[ Oh, did he...do something wrong? She...didn't expect him to stay, did she? That's not how these things work, Alisaie!! ]

To...sleep on the couch.

Why?

[ ?? you can practically see the question marks above her head, even if her sleepy frown is getting frownier. ]

Is there not enough room?

[ the bed seems plenty big to her.. ]

N-no, it's not that, it's just...

[ WHY DOES IT KEEP COMING BACK TO THIS.

He turns wearied expression on her. ]

S-see, men and women usually don't...share a bed unless they're...

[ WHY THIS ]

Intimate.

[ what the fuck

alisaie stares at him blankly for several long moments, her displeasure clear in her flat, hard expression. ]

So many rules.

[ why do humans overcomplicate things so much?? it's a bed. there's room for two. he shouldn't have to sleep on the sofa. it's stupid. ]

D-don't look at me! I didn't make it up. I'd be perfectly happy to—

[ But he cuts off that train of thought pretty abruptly, snapping his mouth shut and blushing a deep, crimson red. ]

Never mind. D'you...need anything?

[ he's all red again!! alisaie sticks out her lower lip in something akin to a pout, but she's not about to force his hand. whether or not he made them up is irrelevant, they're still stupid!! ]

No.

[ Well there goes her opportunity to ask for nighttime cuddles...he heads for the door, rubbing at the back of his neck, and worrying at his bottom lip. ]

I-if you're sure...um. Sleep well, then.

[ wow look all he's done is shot her down all night okay she's not about to ask for more!! still, she can't help but feel.. disappointed? when he walks away. she can't explain why, or how, but it doesn't linger overlong, given she's quite used to sleeping alone, naturally.

mostly she's just frustrated by his stupid rules!! but she tugs the blanket up to her chin anyway, her petulant frown readily apparent. ]

Goodnight.