Just a Man and his Rowboat [DragonSong][M]

[Goldie]

She was gone for a long time and he managed to limp his way to the beach while he waited. His leg was already aching, though whether it was from the wounds being dirty or the constant salt water, he wasn't sure. He did, however, collapse thankfully onto the rocks and sand and spread his arms wide while he gazed at the stars.

It really was a beautiful night. It reminded him of the times they had laid out and stared up into the heavens back when times had been...simpler wasn't the right word, but language was failing him. Regardless, it seemed like his little run in with the giant seasnail hadn't given him away so at least there was that.

The quiet disturbance of the water alerted Nik to Morgana's return and he pushed himself back into a seated position.

"Thank you." He inched himself forward on his behind until the waves lapped against his shoulders and he was close enough to take the bag and the seaweed from her.

Then back he went, still refusing to stand, and doing an awkward scoot shuffle back out of the water. Walking was too hard. He was over walking.

The makeshift bandages came off and he immediately began weaving the seaweed around his leg almost as if weaving a blanket. It was clear he had knowledge of its use and application and it didn't take long until all of the lacerations were dressed and the plants firmly adhered to his leg. On land or in water they would stay.

Then he turned his attention to his bad and it was like a fire was lit underneath him. He tore through the contents, throwing soaked clothes around him along with some pieces of ruined food until he pulled out a decently size parcel and grinned wildly.

"Yes! Yes!!" he greedily unwrapped the package and pulled out a few bags that were bone dry. His oiled skins had worked perfectly!

From one bag he produced more candies, from another he pulled out a glass bottle full of some unknown liquid, and finally he produced a dainty bracelet made from pearl and polished stone while set in gold.

"For you." He offered the bracelet to Morgana, "I was saving it for someone special, but you've saved my life and I think that's more important. It's a...family....heirloom." he lied. Well, it wasn't really a lie. It probably was an heirloom to the woman it used to belong to. Eh...details.

[DragonSong]

Morgana watched him scoot his way along the sand with her head tilted like a curious puppy. Was that how humans moved without use of their legs? How on earth did they manage? She'd thought navigating with her tail in shallow water could be unwieldy, but in comparison to that it seemed exceedingly simple.

His familiarity with the seaweed she had brought him certainly spoke to something, though she couldn't say she was entirely sure exactly what. And then, as he began rummaging through his bag, she leaned forward just a bit to get a better look at what he was unpacking.

Ah. Of course. More candy. And a bottle of...something that she could only assume was alcoholic.

Then he produced the bracelet and held it out to her, and she stared at him in blank confusion for a long moment.

...Why did he keep giving her things?!

Of course, her general understanding of the world would indicate that in saving his life--and further, towing him to land, then finding the seaweed and his bag--she had more than repaid any debt she might have owed him for offering her a new experience with the candy, she was having a hard time looking at the bracelet as payment offered for those services. Because usually a payment was parted with reluctantly, and he seemed all too happy to just keep giving things to her!

Still, she allowed herself to drift to the edges of the shallows, then sighed and pulled her upper body out of the water entirely, so that she was sitting on the sand with two thirds of her tail trailing back into the surf. She reached out to accept the bracelet, and simply held it in her palm for several long moments before slipping it over her wrist.

There were certainly those among her kin who collected such things, enjoyed decorating themselves with pretty baubles--either scavenged, stolen, or crafted themselves from what materials the sea provided. She'd never really considered herself one of them, but she would admit a certain fondness for pretty things.

Rather than thank him for the bracelet, she asked quietly, "Who is...someone special? The one you were saving it for."

[Goldie]

Nik popped a recovered candy into his mouth and tilted his head to the side while studying her intently. Sirens, as he knew them, were not very trusting folk. It was rare indeed that someone walked away unscathed if at all. It was rarer to have a conversation with them. And there were so many different kinds of sirens. This one seemed to be almost exclusively sea dwelling with a full tail and scales across her whole body.

And yet....she inched closer to him.

Gods he was just that charming wasn't he? Charmed the charmer, he had!

"Hmm...." he mused, contemplating what to tell her. Specifically how much of the truth. "I suppose you could say I was hoping to make it a peace offering. So less....you're special to me and more....appeasement."

[DragonSong]

Morgana lifted one eyebrow. "...I don't suppose this appeasement has anything to do with the marks on your back?"

It wasn't any great leap in logic--he was clearly familiar with sirens and the sea, at least to the extent any human could be. And she had certainly known individuals among her kind who held grudges. Either he had been marked for a hunt and escaped, or...

Well. There were several options really. She didn't want to assume.

Flicking her tail through the surf to send up a few glittering droplets, she let herself lean back and braced one hand on the sand behind her. "You don't have to tell me," she said in the general direction of the stars above them. "I'm just...curious."

It was a new feeling, being curious about a human. She normally didn't give them much thought, beyond deciding if they would make a good hunt.

[Goldie]

Nik studied her for a bit longer, sucking noisily on the candy as he mulled over her questions. He wasn't surprised she knew what those scars were. Very few creatures could create that kind of mark. But...how would she react?

"I understand how you could come to that conclusion." He spoke slowly; choosing his words carefully, "but whether or not I answer your question really depends on whether or not it'll change your mind on eating me."

[DragonSong]

She laughed at that, and tipped her head tot he side to better see his face from her current position.

"Do you worry I might turn you over to an angry sister?" she asked, lightly teasing--though it was certainly a reasonable fear to have. Looking upward again, she shook her head. "I have little interest in the doings of other sirens. And I will not eat you because you do not appeal to me as a meal."

She shrugged. "Perhaps that will change, but I doubt it. Those of my bloodline tend to prefer...angrier prey."

She would never pretend to be serving some higher form of justice--she hunted because it was her nature, and because she was hungry--but she had never taken the life of someone who had showed her kindness.

[Goldie]

"The thought crossed my mind, yes." He responded, basically admitting to her original question about the claw marks on his back. Thaleia hadn't been pleased when he tried to part ways but, somehow, he had managed to escape her. Mostly thanks to the small silver ring he fished out of his bag and now turned over in his hands pensively.

He sighed, "She really didn't want to let me go." He admitted, "Which is probably my fault for being so damn charming."

[DragonSong]

"Mmm." Morgana twisted slightly to better face him. "We can be possessive creatures, true enough."

She swayed the lower part of her tail back and forth through the surf. "Did you take something from her?" she asked after a moment, simply curious. She knew there were sirens who could lash out violently if the object of their affections spurned them—but it was just as likely that there was something he wasn't telling her about the whole affair.

[Goldie]

He didn't answer right away. Her question was....complicated.

"Nothing that can be returned." He answered honestly, "Even if I wanted to....I...can't give her what she wants. So, now I'm marked or....something. I don't quite understand how it all works."

[DragonSong]

Another quiet "hmmm". Morgana rolled onto her stomach, bracing her elbows in the sand to lift her upper body as she looked him over yet again.

"I...am not familiar with that practice," she admitted after a moment. "That is, I've known sirens to be jealous and possessive--and we can certainly hold a grudge--but a mark sounds...almost arcane."

She frowned a bit, thinking. "Did she have any magic? Besides her song, I mean."

[Goldie]

Nik leaned back on his hands and let his legs rest in the water as the waves gentle ebbed and flowed. It was nice, this little islet thing. It was peaceful and even the ocean seemed to want to preserve that feeling. If he wasn't so addicted to candy and other people's money he might consider retiring here for good. Just....exist in the calm.

"She does..." he responded slowly, "that's.....not.....normal?" Oh Gods...what had he gotten involved with then?

[DragonSong]

"It is not abnormal," Morgana mused, pursing her lips. "But no, not all of us are born seawitches. So I suppose it's possible this mark is more magical in nature than it is physical?"

She nodded toward his back. "I could take a look, if you want. But I'm not sure how much I'd be able to glean--I've never been all that adept with that sort of magic."

[Goldie]

Nik shrugged. "Can't hurt, can it?" He replied, spinning around so his back was now closer to the water. The scars, upon closer inspection, weren't just silver because of new skin, but looked almost scale-like in appearance.

[DragonSong]

Morgana hesitated a moment before shifting a little further out of the water--not so far that her tail wasn't still mostly submerged, but further than she usually allowed herself to settle on shore.

With Nik's back to her, she lightly traced over one of the marks with her fingertip. It didn't just look like silvered scales, it almost...felt scaly.

"Well that's interesting," she murmured, tracing another scar with her fingertip. "How do they feel?" she asked abruptly. "I mean, do they...hurt? Are they sore? OR do you not notice them?"

[Goldie]

Nik shrugged and glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Honestly, I don't feel them. I...don't even really remember getting them...just that they weren't there and then I suggested we part ways and the...argument happened. Next thing I remember was waking up on shore."

[DragonSong]

"Moon and tides," Morgana muttered, with the tone of someone invoking an impolite oath.

She bit her lip, then said slowly, "I have a...friend. Acquaintance, I suppose, really."

She sat back, giving him a quick tap on the shoulder to let him know he could turn back around. Propped up with one hand in the sand, she tipped her head so her silver-white hair spilled down over that shoulder and mused, "We haven't spoken in—well, in quite a while. But she might know more. This sort of magic is more her area of expertise than mine."

She "hmm"ed in consideration. "Her home is quite a distance though...and underwater."

[Goldie]

Nik turned back around a looked at her thoughtfully, a mischievious look creeping into his eyes.

"Underwater, eh?" He asked as he stood up and started walking pointedly into the ocean. His bag laid long forgotton on the beach but the ring he had collected was held tightly in his hand, "well, let's go adventuring then! Assuming, of course, you're cool to protect me from a raging...witch."

He gave Morgana a playful wink before sinking his head under the water without even taking a breath.

[DragonSong]

"What are you—?"

She blinked, then dove into the water after him.

Circling around him as he sank lower, she frowned, looking him up and down.

"...Are you telling me I didn't need to bother saving you from drowning earlier?" she demanded, deadpan.

[Goldie]

His grin widened at her question and he popped his head back above water. He had drifted a bit further than he could touch so he was forced to tread water.

"What?" He responded once his mouth was out, "No, I definitely needed saving. A right proper damsel in distress I was." He spit out some salt water that splashed up.

"But when you saved me, I didn't have my bag....so...." he waved the ring around before slipping it on his thumb. Silver strings of magic blossomed from the ring and began entwining themselves around his body. The strands formed webs between his fingers and his toes. Then they inched up and created long lines along his neck and then small stabilizing type fins swirled out around his hips.

He felt his lungs get tight. That was his cue and he sunk again below the waves.

[DragonSong]

The siren backpedaled through the water slightly to give up room as he slipped the ring on. She let herself tilt sideways before moving into a full flip.

Coming upright again, she said with a shrug, "Well, at least I won't have to be kissing you every time you put your head above water."

Without bothering to explain that comment, she gave a sharp flick of her tail to send her back through the water several lengths before pausing again.

"Well? Think you can keep up, or should I fashion you a leash?" she asked with a crooked, razor-fanged grin.