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

[Goldie]

Nik looked at her confused, "What?" He responded, "What's this about kissing? You were going to kiss me?"

He swam quickly to follow her, "Wait. No no, you can't just swim away after that." He reached for her hand, "I think I like the kissing idea better. Let's do that."

[DragonSong]

She laughed, letting him take her hand, but keeping him at a full arm's length.

"I would have thought you'd known," she chuckled, titling her head at him playfully. "Have you never heard the legends? A mermaid's kiss can save a man from drowning."

Looking pointedly at his ring, she added with a blithe shrug, "Seems you've no need of that assistance, though. Come along now!"

She started swimming again, her hand still in his.

[Goldie]

He flicked his feet and reveled in the water that raced past his cheeks and into his blonde hair that created a trail behind his head.

"No no no." He continued, almost begging, "I am a man in danger of drowning. You need to save me." He swam up next to her and flipped onto his back dramatically, closed his eyes, and stuck out his tongue. "See." He whispered, "Drowning."

[DragonSong]

Morgana laughed again, the sound carrying through the water like a silvered song all its own. She released his hand to swim over top of him, drawing close enough that they were merely a breath apart as she floated just over him.

"Oh?" She traced one hand down along the side of his neck, then over his collar—just using her fingertips, barely touching him at all. "Are you sure? You're quite talkative for a man on the verge of death..."

She gave a slight flick of her tail that brought her even closer, her torso just briefly pressed to his, lips no more than a finger's width from his—

Then she flipped back with another silvery giggle, spinning and smirking at him through a billowing curtain of hair.

[Goldie]

He fake swooned and let himself sink lower into the water while one hand dramatically clutched at his chest.

"Death take my heart for a seductress has stolen it from me!" He closed his eyes and let his body rock gently back and forth with the current while squeezing his eyes shut. Well....mostly shut....he was peeking out at her through tiny slits.

[DragonSong]

The siren scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. Swimming close enough to touch him again, she reached out and flicked the tip of his nose lightly.

"If this is how you seduced my kinswoman, my opinion of her has plummeted," she said wryly, but there was a teasing glint in her eyes.

Circling him once more, she flicked her tail out so that the very tip of her fins dragged along his leg for half a moment. "Now come, come! It'll be well passed midnight soon, and we'll want a safe spot to rest for the remainder of the night."

[Goldie]

Nik flipped around and sped after her chuckling lightly under his breath. Something about the water always made him feel freer than he did on land. Perhaps it was that sense of flying. Maybe it was the lack of gravity as the water lifted and supported entirely.

Perhaps he was a bit lonely and it was nice to have someone to talk to.

Nah. That was stupid.

[DragonSong]

As they swam, Morgana kept checking back over her shoulder to make sure Nik was keeping up with her. A ring that allowed him to breathe underwater was one thing, but human legs and feet just weren't the kind of swimming tool that a merfolk's tail was.

She found herself checking her own speed unconsciously, allowing him to keep pace with her more easily. She wasn't used to traveling with a companion, and had thought it would quickly grow irritating.

It hadn't so far, which was...interesting.

Eventually, she slowed and circled back to hover vertically in front of him in the water. "Does that," she asked, gesturing to the ring, "work indefinitely? Or will I have to sleep with you floating on the surface like a mother otter?"

[Goldie]

"Indefinitely?" He thought for a moment, "I mean, I haven't used it for weeks or anything, but I actually can't breathe above water with it on."

He grinned again, enjoying teasing her, "I wouldn't object to being cradled though. Who knows what kinds of dark creatures are lurking in the depths hoping that some poor unassuming human might just....swim by. I'll need to be protected. My little baby skin is no match for horrifying creatures of the deep."

He brushed some wayward strands of hair out of his face. The magic of the ring emitted a soft glow where the silver threads wove around him to the point he looked almost otherworldly. Hopefully that alone wouldn't attract unwanted attention. Fish tended to like light...

[DragonSong]

Morgana snorted at him—which was actually not an easy thing to accomplish underwater. Rolling her eyes, she reached out to take his hand and started swimming again.

"There's a cave system not far from here," she said as she towed him along, tail slicing gracefully through the water to move them more quickly than he could have on his own. "It should be safe—though we may have to block any entrances to hide that light."

She gestured to the way he was glowing with her free hand.

[Goldie]

Nik took her hand and enjoyed the speed with which she sped them through the water. He still kicked his feet to keep her from doing all the work, but he definitely wasn't doing much to contribute. His ring was an impressive bit of magic, but she was part of the sea and he was an interloper.

For a moment he was able to forget that fact and just enjoy existing in this exotix world. People didn't know what was beneath the waves and the beauty the were missing.

"Yeah...." he glanced at the silver strands that encased him, "It is a bit of a setback isn't it? You'll just have to wrap me up tightly." He winked at her.

[DragonSong]

She rolled her eyes again, but there was a hint of a smile playing around the edges of her lips.

She'd always been a solitary creature, but it was gradually occurring to her that perhaps...well, perhaps an occasional bit of company could be...nice. Maybe she had been on her own too long.

"You know, most sailors would at least be wary of the idea of being "wrapped up" by a siren," she said pointedly as they cut through the water.

The cave system she had mentioned gradually loomed ahead of them, slowly solidifying its shape in the water, shadows upon shadows.

[Goldie]

He shrugged, "Maybe I just like danger. Maybe I'm actually insane." He contemplated and then nodded, "yeah, probably just insane." He concluded. "I don't care much about self-preservation the way most people think I should. I mean...technically...just being in the water right now might bring death and destruction down upon us. At least, that's what I've been lead to believe."

He paused and bit his lower lip as he thought, "If she did mark me...and if that means she knows where I am...you could be putting yourself in a lot of danger. Are you sure you're ok with that?"

[DragonSong]

"Oh, Nik." She smirked; it was the first time she'd used his name. "Believe me—I'm not the one in danger. If another siren wants you, she will have to go through me."

She flashed a grin at him, teeth silver in the dark water. Her long canines weren't just fang-like: they were serrated.

"Here." She let them drift to a stop outside the mouth of the largest cave in the underwater system. "There should be a safe place we can sleep for a few hours further in. I hope you're not afraid of the dark?"

[Goldie]

"The dark?" He scoffed, "I'm never in the dark because I'm de-LIGHT-ful." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"The only thing that I'm afraid of it a world without candy. And drink. I'm awfully fond of both." He swam in after her. In the cave, the soft glow of magic around him seemed infinitely brighter.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, that was bad," Morgana chuckled as they swam inside.

She led them through a series of tunnels, most of which were wide enough to pass through comfortably, but some required that they squeeze in a little closer together.

Eventually, they reached a place where the tunnel opened wider—and Morgana drew up short.

"Hmmm..." She hesitated at the mouth of the cave proper, where it seemed that some sort of fluctuation in the pressure since she'd last been here—perhaps a cave-in further into the system—had rendered the water level barely ankle high on a human.

She backpedaled slightly, sinking back down into the tunnel. "Well...you could sleep up there, if you like. There are natural shelves along the cave wall that would keep you safe."

[Goldie]

Nik shrugged and slipped the ring off his finger so he could emerge into the air safely. But without its magic, the cave plunged into absolute darkness.

"Well." He spoke to the black, "This both solves a problem and creates one." He waved his hand in front of his face. Nothing.

[DragonSong]

"...I suppose it does."

Or, perhaps, an opportunity.

A girl had to keep some secrets, after all.

"I can see, a little," she told Nik as she poked her head above water, and then slowly dragged herself up onto the lip of the cave.

She glanced down at her tail as the tingling started; she'd only done this a few times before, and it always felt odd. Her scales loosened, shimmered, then sluiced away as salt water, revealing the pale flesh of legs beneath.

She stood, swaying slightly as she adjusted to the new center of gravity, then stepped toward to take Nik'd hand again.

"Here. I'll guide you."

[Goldie]

Her hand against his caused him to jump straight out of his skin. "The fuck?" He yelped, yanking his hand away and promptly slipping and crashing on his butt into the water. Thankfully he was able to hold onto the ring - that would have made for a bad day...

"Morgana?" He lurched to his feel and reached around blindly, "What the hell...was that you?"

[DragonSong]

She couldn't help laughing quietly, though his own start caused her to skitter back a step.

"Yes, it's me," she confirmed, watching the shadow-in-shadow outline of him grope around in the darkness for a moment before she reached out to put her hand in his path again.

"Who else were you expecting?" she teased lightly when his hand found hers in the dark.