Leaning against the wall outside one of the bustling taverns afforded her the shroud of darkness she sought. At night there was no fear standing out in the open when there was hardly any risk of another human catching sight of her in the pitch black.
It was all impersonal. She had no motive aside from selfish greed and coin enough to last her until she decided to move on to the next town.
Things had been boring lately. Little news, little excitement and petty, unremarkable thefts. A high bounty on her head across several countries tended to do that, so she was lying low until it all blew over. Well, relatively low at least.
Stubbornly remaining out in public and refusing to hide had earned her quite a bit of attention. All of which needed paying off: more money, more theft. It was a cycle, alright, though not necessarily a vicious one. It was easy and something she was frankly blind to. Consequences meant very little to her as a woman with no qualms about skipping town at the first sign of trouble.
With a few swift and nearly silent cuts Awiergan stripped some of the smaller, less suspicious coin purses off the noticeably inebriated. Each was tucked into its own pocket of her coat, the slight jingling of coin quickly silenced as they were enveloped. She was no stranger to taking advantage of the weak and was eager enough to take the shortest, most profitable route to obtaining the comfortable cushion of false wealth she was accustomed with leaning upon.
As fascinated as he was with life on land, this was really only his third trip to the surface. He'd learned enough to know that acquiring pants should be his first priori once he stepped onto the shore, but didn't feel quite the same need to find a shirt. Consequently, he was drawing quite a few states as he strolled down the street, heedless of the late hour.
His eye were used to the dark anyway. In fact, they were sharp enough to pick out what he thought might be the outline of a figure, a shadow against shadow moving quickly through the black.
Curious, Luca sidled closer, wondering what this strange moving shadow was up to. Of course, with his height and half naked appearance, subtly wasn't really his strong suit.
She didn't feel his stare until he was nearly upon her, but the piratess was careful not to look up and make whatever it was aware that she knew she was being watched. It was dangerous to know nothing of her adversary and the realization that the hunter was becoming the hunted, as it were, was fairly unsettling. It seemed eerie that he was moving straight towards her, but maybe it was just coincidence or one of those pesky, hyper-alert drunks.
Awiergan continued her snatching of coin purses until she could see the shadow of the lingering man. She stilled, her fingers deftly hiding the last of her spoils as she chanced a glance at the stranger who, remarkably, was entirely under dressed in her opinion. Much as she wanted to balk at his lack of proper covering she muttered something about being "too busy" for whatever it was he'd approached her for and turned to walk deeper into town and away from the tavern she'd been preying upon.
She'd been seen, that much she knew. Noticed. That wasn't good at all. She could only hope he'd been too drunk to think much of what exactly she was doing there. Maybe he hadn't seen her steal.
Luca frowned after the woman- he could see the shadow was a woman now- and started to follow her. He supposed it didn't really make sense, but he was a slave to his own curiosity. Why had she been doing that, taking little bags from people?
"Excuse me," he called when he was once more within earshot. "Uh, Miss? What are you doing?" It wasn't hard to keep up with her with long strides. Not quite as effective as a quick tail thrust through water, but he found he rather enjoyed the act of walking.
The sound of a voice sent a chill down her spine. No! He couldn't be stupid enough to draw attention to her. Ignore. It was best to just ignore him. For all she knew there was another "Miss" milling about. Perhaps the half-clothed man was leering at a whore. She wouldn't have been surprised in this town.
She resisted the urge to look back at the presence she felt so near at her back. To look was to admit guilt, to admit that she was avoiding him. Instead she hurried herself along at an even faster clip that couldn't possibly hope to outpace a man that towered over her so.
His frown deepened a bit. Had she not heard him? That didn't seem likely- he was right behind her.
Unsure of human customs, what may be considered polite or not, he reached out to grab her arm, then changed his mind and simply tapped her shoulder. "Hello? Are you deaf?" he asked, innocent curiosity in his tone.
She recoiled from the sudden touch, her hand reactively going for one of her knives as she finally cast a look back at him. She slowed and then stopped altogether, glaring as she turned to eye him, sizing him up best she could in the dark of night.
He was certainly tall, taller than she'd expected as she found herself craning her neck a bit to study his face. "No," she growled, deeming him no immediate threat as she whipped around to continue on her way.
Perhaps all he needed was a little rejection to give up. She didn't owe him any sort of explanation, it was bad enough that he'd seen her at all.
Shrugging a bit, Luca followed after her, undeterred. He wouldn't be thwarted so easily, not when there was something he wanted to find out.
"What were you doing?" he asked curiously, falling easily into step beside her. It wasn't so strange to him, so he couldn't quite understand why people they passed had began to throw odd or curious looks in their direction.
The familiar voice again had her bristling and raising her armed hand slightly. She lowered it just as quickly, though, there was no need to draw extra attention to an already painfully obvious pair.
"Why are you following me?" Awiergan countered, huffing at the gall of a stranger to poke his nose in her business. He wasn't being robbed or ripped off so what should he care about what she did?
He shrugged again, giving her a rather oblivious grin. "I'm curious. You're the most interesting thing I've come across all day." And seeing as he only had three nights to satisfy his curiosity, he was going to take advantage.
"So...what were you doing?" he persisted, tilting his head a bit so his loose hair fell back, revealing the rather odd, finned shape of one ear.
Because curiosity was a legitimate reason to follow a perfect stranger at night. Manners truly seemed to be a thing of the past.
She wasn't going to bother asking why she was interesting to him. For all she knew he was certifiably insane. "I was enjoying my evening until you came to ruin my good fun," she spat, turning to glower at the blissfully unaware stranger. What she saw was rather startling, though.
"What is that?" she demanded, eyes narrowing sharply as she stared at his exposed ear accusingly.
He blinked. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" what was the phrase she'd used?- "ruin your fun," he said sincerely.
Her question caught him off guard. "Wait- what is what?" he asked, brow furrowing in confusion as he looked down at her. We're all land people this small? Or perhaps he was just taller than average...
"Don't play dumb with me. That," she stressed, raising her arm to point to the offending ear at the side of his head. No, this man was strange. She shouldn't have even been entertaining the thought of conversation with him anymore.
"Who are you? And what do you know about me?" Awiergan demanded, stubbornly refusing to believe an odd, half-clothed man with funny ears had just happened to find her interesting. It was clear enough he'd seen what she was doing and that was dangerous in itself.
"My ear?" Luca asked, confused, and reached up to touch the apparently offending piece of anatomy. It flicked away from his fingertips automatically and he frowned a bit. What was so odd about it? He supposed it didn't look like a human ear, but he'd never really given it much thought before.
"I'm called Luca," he answered her question a little distractedly. Then, with a shrug, "I don't know anything about you. That's why I wanted to talk to you."
"Luca... Right." It was certainly not a name of any hunter she was familiar with, but that didn't mean it was even his true identity. "What are you, Luca? And what do you even want to know?" she questioned, endlessly suspicious of the strange man that insisted upon following her.
"Because you're definitely not human. Not entirely at least," she accused him, as if it were some horrible crime for some halfling or other creature entirely to address her.
He shook his head in confirmation. "No, I'm not human," he said easily. He didn't offer any other information on that front though, simply smiling innocently. "And I just wanted to know what you were doing back there," he said jerking his head in the direction they'd come from.
His head tilted slightly to one side. "I suppose it must be very important, you seem quite irritated that I interrupted you. Sorry about that." He made no move to leave her alone though, at least not until his curiosity was satisfied.
His continued apologies but lack of exit was particularly grating. "Yes, quite irritated," she confirmed, grumbling again as she stepped out to try and walk away again without giving him any more information. She knew he could easily keep pace but what need was there to entertain someone who wished to interrogate her on the very street she had committed crimes? It was odd, all so very odd.
By now it seemed obvious he was certainly no vigilante if he couldn't manage to put together for himself what she'd been doing. Why it still interested him so much was what puzzled her, but he was just another stranger, another face that would quickly be forgotten as she moved on to something that might bring less attention to herself.
Not really having anything better to do- and curiosity still not fully satisfied- Luca once again followed after her.
"Is it a secret?" he asked, falling into step beside her. "Is that why you won't tell me?"
"You're a very persistent little imp, aren't you?" Awiergan scolded, her glare cold and unamused. She supposed he wasn't so little, though. "Why do you take such pleasure in pestering a stranger in the street?"
He blinked. "I'm not an imp," he replied automatically, though he wasn't quite sure he knew what that was. "I told you, I'm just curious," he said in response to the question, smiling obliviously. "If you'd just explain I'll stop pestering you." His smile was the picture of innocence.
"Fine," she growled, seeing no other way to rid herself of this odd man that had decided to cling to her short of murder. "Stealing," she hissed in whisper. "I was fucking stealing, alright? You happy now?"
She threw up her hand in disgust, turning to storm off and away from the dopey, puppy-like smile.
"Oh." His eyes went wide. "You're not supposed to do that," he noted, though his tone was more interested than condemning.
And she was walking away again. He hurried after her, asking, "Why?"
Awiergan tensed, flinching at the continued questioning. "No, I'm not, but why do you think?" she shot back at him, her voice still hushed as she turned sharply on her heel to glower up at him once more. Arms were crossed at her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently. She'd had enough, this was just getting silly now.
"Why does anyone do anything?" she quizzed him impatiently, not even waiting for him to answer before she spat her own. "Because they want to! Any more questions?"
Luca blinked, apparently unfazed by her anger. "No, I suppose not." He gave her that same innocent smile and a polite nod. "Thank you for your time, Miss."
"Good," she sighed, already mentally exhausted from the exercise of being patient with him. Well, patient enough to not gouge him with her knife and leave him bleeding in the street.
Awiergan eyed him suspiciously, uncertain if he would actually let the questioning go now or not. "I suppose," she began again once the spark of anger had died down. "You'll be wanting something else, then?"
She sighed, rolling her eyes at the assumed bribe he would want for his silence. "Here," she grumbled, one hand disappearing into her coat for a moment to retrieve one of the purses she'd lifted. Holding it out to him expectantly she jingled it slightly so the coins inside would be apparent. "Keep quiet about me and there won't be any trouble," the piratess warned.
Caught of guard but undeniably fascinated, Luca reached out and took the purse. He mimicked her shaking motion and his eyes widened when it elicited that same jingling sound. "What...?" He tugged the string to pull it open and looked inside.
"Oh." A wide smile spread across his face as he pulled out a coin, tilting it so it caught what faint light there was. "I didn't know they made sounds like that," he exclaimed, thrilled, shaking the purse again. Positively beaming, he dropped the coin back into the purse and held it back out to her. "Thank you."
His fascination with the money was so childlike. Had he never held coins together before? Perhaps he was simply poor. Awiergan frowned, knowing it wasn't her place to be curious about a stranger.
"They do... What?" She stared at the purse but held her hands at her sides refusing to offer to take it back. "No, it's yours," she explained, suddenly feeling quite awkward that her bribe was being rejected. That didn't happen too often. Actually, pretty much never.
"I always just thought they were sparkly trinkets," Luca explained with a shrug, still smiling a bit. "I didn't know they could make that pretty sound." Tilting his head a bit, he drew the purse back, closer to his chest.
"Are you sure you want to give it to me?" They would certainly make a nice addition to his collection, but he was still confused why the woman would just give them away.
"Yes," she sighed, raising a hand to rub at her temple. He was really going to question a gift? Did he have zero concept of money?
"Coins aren't trinkets. They're money. You use it. And yes... I am also quite fond of the sound they can make." It was the first ghost of a smile that crossed her face in their time together but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. "Now go buy something interesting, don't gamble that away like some idiot," she bid him.
"Wait." His brow furrowed. "Use it? How?" He had a very vague concept of currency. "I can...trade with it?" he ventured. His people did that sometimes, traded trinkets among themselves. He supposed it would make sense that humans did the same.
But she made it sound as if that was the specific purpose of the money. And he had absolutely no idea what this "gamble" thing she mentioned was.
There it was, more questions. "Trade...yes I suppose that would be the word," she answered, albeit a little more patiently this time. He seemed genuinely oblivious more than stupid at that point. She could at least take pity upon a man somehow uneducated in the ways of the world. Well, the human world at least.
"Coins are....valued. Each one has a certain value. You buy things worth the same amount with it. And the person who sold it to you uses them for some other purchase. Understand?"
"I- I think so." He gave her another confused look. "Then...why give them to me? I haven't given you anything in return..."
"You have. Your silence. You don't say a word about me to anyone," she explained again, though she was beginning to doubt his understanding of the whole transaction. Perhaps that was for the best.
"Oh." Yes, right, she had said something like that before. "Is my silence really this...valuable?" he asked with a frown, lifting the purse and looking between it and her. "How much is this? I don't know what's too much and what isn't," he confessed a little sheepishly.
"I don't know, I didn't count it," she told him honestly, her self-preserving temper cooling as she began to realize he didn't really seem any sort of threat to her.
"Enough for you to not talk about me to other people, I would hope," she sighed. "Look, I'll give you some advice. You look like you need it." She sized him up, looking at him as properly as she could in the dark. He seemed far too innocent and clueless to be in a town like this.
"You seem...like a decent fellow, Luca. Don't follow random women at night. Don't spend all of that in one place. Don't gamble. And don't be me. Don't steal. Now...goodnight I suppose."
Luca frowned a bit at her advice, though the expression was thoughtful rather than irritated. "I...thank you, I suppose," he said quietly, tilting his head at her.
Why would she tell him not to do something she'd be doing? Perhaps it was very difficult, and one needed special training to accomplish it.
"Oh, yes. Goodnight then," he added with a quick smile. That exchange he was at least familiar with.
At last able to leave without being followed Awiergan put as much distance as she could between herself and the tavern. It wouldn't be good if anyone realized that much coin had gone missing all from the same place on the same night. She settled herself at a small inn for the night, resting and relaxing and pampering herself as much possible before she would face the next day. It was time to move on, and moving always meant work.
The sun was barely peeking out over the horizon when she set herself to the familiar tasks of readying a ship to sail. It had been easy enough to talk her way on board, few men would willingly turn away an extra set of helping hands. She was not picky about where she ended up, all she needed was to be away.
Luca experimented with the coin he'd been giving, keeping some and spending a bit on any odd little trinket that caught his attention. Quite pleased, he spent the night in a little cavern on the beach, the sounds of the ocean lulling him to sleep.
When he woke the next morning, the call of the sea was too difficult to resist. Placing his gathered treasures from this short trip in a threadbare sack her recovered long ago from a sucker wreck, he shucked his "borrowed" pants and made his way into the water, barely casting a glance around to make sure he wasn't watched.
Once submerged to the waist, he felt the familiar tingle start in his toes and already rapidly up his legs. Used to the change by now, he simply gave his tail a flick when he exchanged legs for fins and dove into the water.
He meant to just swim out to sea, but noises from the port caught his attention. Curious, he decided to take a look, watching from just under the surface as one of the ships was prepared to sail.
A loud crash followed by the barking growl of the captain got her attention. Her fussing with the mooring lines paused as she looked up to see him chewing out a young man. There were a few cracked boards and a tipped barrel of fish half-strewn across the other side of the deck. She quirked a brow when she was asked to clean up such a mess, but she swapped roles with the boy more for his sake than her own.
Righting the barrel was easy enough, but she made a face of disgust at the waste of throwing out all that had spilled. Carefully lifting each by hand became out of the question quite quickly as her hands were covered in scales. She ended up kicking them overboard instead, not noticing the human-like face below the surface as she cast a rain of the slippery things down upon the merman.
Luca's eyes widened as he recognized the woman above him, then widened further as he dove out of the way of the fish she tossed in his direction.
Coming back toward the surface a little further away, he risked poking his head out of the water for a better look. Yep, definitely the same woman. What were the chances?
Grinning to himself, he sank into the water again. Maybe he'd follow this ship for a while...
Oblivious to the fact that she'd been noticed Awiergan went about her day as she would have any other. She was tense until they were upon the open water, but it was there that she finally had her freedom. She was just there with the ship's crew and there was honestly not much for her to do despite their need of her help in port.
She spent her time repairing the damaged boards from the earlier morning, patching them up to the best of her ability. It was her first night out on the water in a week, though, and it left her quite restless. She stayed up on deck to stargaze instead once the majority of the crew had gone under for their beds.
Luca followed the ship until sundown. It was quite easy for him to keep up, there weren't any real strong headwinds yet. As night fell, he realized the humans seemed to be vacating the deck.
Perfect. The woman seemed to be alone. Swimming up on the port side of the bow, he reached up and grabbed at the rail that wrapped around the deck, pulling himself out of the water enough that he could rest his arms on the rail while his tail trailed down the side of the boat.
"Hello," he said brightly.
She jumped slightly at the sound of a voice. She thought she'd been alone. That it sounded familiar wasn't unusual but the direction from which it came was.
"Hello," she greeted dryly, head lowering automatically and turning towards the way she knew the small set of steps to be as she expected something needed her attention if she was to keep the night watch. But no, that wasn't where the voice had come from.
Awiergan whipped around to face him, eyes widening in recognition. "Coin man," she greeted again then frowned. No, that hadn't been his name. "Luca..." She looked him up and down, not really noticing anything different about him at first glance with the majority of his tail hidden from where she sat.
"What are you doing?" she asked, assuming she'd somehow missed that he was a member of the crew. Apparently he was someone who liked to be in suspicious places at night.
Luca shrugged as best he could in his current position. "I recognized you from the water and thought I'd say hello," he told her easily with a broad, oblivious grin. "I never did get your name, you know. It's the that customary among humans? You know my name, so I should know yours?"
From the water? She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. It wasn't a crime to be something other than human, of course, but she already knew he wasn't because of the ear-fins. Did that make him some sort of fish-thing?
"I'm Awiergan," she finally answered, the words slow as she was almost uncertain if she should share her actual name. It was too late for that now, though.
"You're a fish-man, aren't you?" she decided, leaning a little closer to scrutinize what she could see of him by the moonlight. Well, maybe he was too pretty to be a fish, exactly.
Too curious, she ended up leaning against the railing to look over. What could he possibly be standing on? Well, it turned out he wasn't standing at all.
She really did try not to look so surprised but she wasn't really sure what to do other than gawk at the unmistakable shimmery-shine of scales and fins. She knew creatures like him existed but that didn't mean she was well-acquainted with any. "Oh..."
"Fish-man?" He smiled vaguely. "I suppose that's one way to describe me."
When she started leaning over the rail he frowned a bit in concern. "Oh, careful there," he cautioned, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder without thinking. Then he grinned again. Her reaction to his tail was amusing.
"We usually go by "merfolk"," he said to her stunned silence, smirking a bit. He let his tail curl up a bit to show his broad tail fin, trying to gauge her expression.
She stared at the way his tail curled, fascinated by the large fin that managed to look both soft and sharp all at the same time. In a delayed reaction she stumbled back a bit to be off the railing and shook her head incredulously.
"But I saw you," she protested, confused. "You were walking. I saw you last night in town... How? Where did-?" Awiergan made a gesture to her own legs, unable to form the words to ask where his legs had gone.
"That's amazing," she muttered under her breath.
Luca laughed softly at her confusion. "It's a trick my people can do. Only lasts for three nights though," he explained easily.
For some reason he found himself smiling bashfully, cheeks flushing when she said it was amazing. "Oh, well...thanks." He glanced up again, tilting his head at her. "It's nothing special, really... What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked curiously.
Three nights? She wondered if that meant three nights ever or only three at a time, though she doubted she'd ever have reason to clarify that with him.
"I'm leaving. Well, leaving Cerenis. For now. Thought it might be bad luck for me to stay close since I knew you'd seen me, but... I suppose that doesn't really matter, what does a...mermaid?" she tried, knowing it to be a word she heard occasionally for people like him. Then she frowned and shook her head. "Merman?" Maybe that was better than fish man at least.
She shrugged in defeat. "What reason would you have to use that information." Unless he wanted more of that shiny coin for her capture, though she doubted a creature of the sea would care enough to bother with it, especially if he was so limited to land travel. "We're headed down the coast, though. Trade ship. They, uh, have food to deliver," she explained. "I'm just along for the ride."
Luca smiled and nodded at her use of the word merman, encouraging the correct terminology. "What kinda food?" he asked curiously, pulling himself a bit more out of the water, leaning further over the rail.
Human foods were one of the things he was most fascinated by. They didn't last long in the ocean, so he rarely had the opportunity to examine them. He knew they sometimes ate fish, as his people did, but he womdered if there might be something different in this ship.
She watched him, uncertain if he intended to come aboard or continue to hold onto the rail as he was. She wasn't sure how he'd get back down if he did, though. "Uh, just normal food?" Well what was normal to merfolk anyway?
"Meat. Grain. Vegetables. Fruits." It was all normal to her, at least. "Do you not eat human food?" she wondered.
He shook his head, eyes glinting with interest. "No. What are those things?"
With a soft grunt, he heaved himself up so he was sitting on the rail, tail hanging down over the side. He didn't really pay attention as his scales started to shimmer and slip, turning to salt water as they dropped away to gradually reveal legs.
"Uh, just..." Awiergan trailed off in surprise, her eyes widening as she watched the partial transformation. His sudden immodesty wasn't particularly bothersome to her but she did cast a worried glance towards the stair. She didn't want to have to explain a naked man to the crew if anyone found him with her. "You really should cover up," she hissed quietly, though with what she had no idea.
Luca tilted his head, swinging his now pretty much full formed legs over the rail to put his feet on the deck. "Yes, I've noticed you humans seem to take issue with too much bare skin," he said easily. He glanced around. "Ah- what should I use?"
"Well..." Awiergan looked around. There was very little she could even imagine being fashioned into makeshift clothing. At last she stepped away, though, grabbing a sack of apples and overturning it. She winced as each bounced and rolled about across the rest of the what was being stored on the deck.
"Here," she offered, returning to him with it empty. "Just put it around your waist. Better than being...naked." Would he even know what the word was?
"Alright." He took the sack and attempted to tie it around his waist as she'd suggested. It took some doing, but eventually he had fashioned it into a sort of kilt-thing. "Is this better?"
He wasn't really paying attention to her answer though, looking curiously around the deck. "I've never been on one of these before. I've only see them from the water, really."
"Much. You don't look like you just climbed out of the ocean now." She watched him warily, hoping and praying he didn't touch any of the rigging.
"It's just a ship," she pointed out, not really seeing how he could be so fascinated by something so ordinary. "Giant piece of wood," she clarified, gesturing all around them. "Kind of like a moving piece of land, I guess."
Luca shook his head with a small, wondering smile as he looked around. "Humans are so inventive," he murmured to himself, moving toward a large mass of ropes that seemed to be connected in some way or another to some sort of central beam.
One of the apples that Awiergan had emptied out caught his attention and he bent to pick it up, turning it over in his hands. "What is this?" he asked, turning to the woman with wide, curious eyes.
"I guess," she said with a shrug, not seeing the wonder in a bunch of rope, wood, and sails. She watched him, unable to hide a giggle at how oblivious he was about the fruit in his hands.
"That's an apple. You can just...bite into it. Doesn't need any preparation to eat," she explained, wandering closer. "Have you really never seen one before? They're quite common."
He shook his head, murmuring, "Not wear I'm from." Lifting the apple higher, he scrutinized it for a moment, then warily brought it to his mouth and took a careful bite.
His eyes went round. "This is good!" he exclaimed, holding it out again and staring at it in unabashed fascination. "You say these are common?"
"Extremely common," she said, nodding and folding her arms loosely. It was difficult to hide her amusement at his childlike fascination. "There are trees with them all over. Most places in the world I've been to, at least. But trees can't bear fruit if they're drowned so... I can understand, I suppose."
She turned towards the supplies the ship was bound to deliver and opened a few more sacks and boxes to look at the contents. "Here," she welcomed him, pointing to the few that had other foods. "There's oats there. And carrots. And that one....well, it's herbs. I wouldn't recommend eating but maybe you'd like how they smell."
Luca trailed after her like a curious puppy. He looked over these new foods with interest, and sniffed at what she called "herbs."
"They do smell nice!" he said delightedly, looking at her with a big, happy grin. "Do all these things come from trees, like the apple?" He took another bite, crunching as he waited expectantly for an answer.
"No, just the apples. Uh..." How was she to explain agriculture to someone who seemed to know nothing about it at all?
"They're all plants of some sort. Just different kinds. They grow in different conditions and some regions are better for certain things than others. Is there...not a lot of plant variety where you live?" she guessed. "Nothing you just...pick up and eat like an apple?"
He tilted his head, considering it. "Well, sometimes I eat seaweed," he mused. "Not often though- it's rather difficult to chew." He shrugged. "I'm not sure about the rest of my kind, but I've never seen anything like this." He waved a hand to indicate the cargo, eyes wide as he looked it over.
"You must not be among humans very often." She looked over the rest of what was there and then looked to his openly curious face. It seemed so out of place for a grown man to know nothing of what happened on land, merfolk or not. She hadn't really thought that he might not have had the chance to go inland enough to see any of the things she'd shown him.
"Are all of your kind so curious?"
"I'm not," Luca agreed, nodding. He looked at her, giving a small smile at her question. "I'm not really sure. We tend to be rather solitary people- mated pairs live together, but outside of that we usually only come across each other once in a while, at least males do. Females tend to be more social."
He shrugged, as though his species' behavioral habits was an entirely normal topic of conversation. "From what I've gathered though, I suppose I am a bit of an oddity among my kind," he said with a small smile, patting the sack he carried over his shoulder absently.
"I see." Well, it was certainly more information than she would have thought to ask for, but she supposed it had answered the question well enough.
Her eyes followed his hand, not understanding how it was supposed to give her any additional information about how he was odd aside from what she'd already witnessed. "Because...they hate bags?" she guessed.
He frowned. "What? Oh." Laughing, he followed her gaze, then shook his head. "No, I didn't mean- well, here, look."
He stepped closer and opened the bag, showing the glint of the few trinkets he'd bought and some other small "treasures" he'd found- eating utensils from an inn, a broken comb, a small handmirror, and a few other odds and ends.
Peering inside didn't give her much more of a clue about what he was on to. The odd collection of, to her, ordinary objects left her staring up at the merman in utter confusion. "Why are you carrying all that stuff with you?"
Luca grinned, as though delighted she'd asked the question. "Because they're new!" he exclaimed. "Every time I visit the shore I find more new things. It's fascinating!"
"...new?" Awiergan had to quickly slap a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"What, you've never seen a spoon before?" she asked in disbelief once she'd recovered, gesturing at the sack of items. She supposed she couldn't entirely fault him for being so curious about human creations if he had not grown up with any of those comforts. It was so difficult, though, for her to see an adult man with such a childlike fascination and curiosity. "I'm sorry, it's just- You talk as though you're just a boy, Luca."
He shrugged, completely unabashed. "I suppose in a lot of ways I am. Up here at least," he said with a quick smile. "Most everything is new to me. Like this." He tugged at the sack she'd made him wear around his waist. "The first time I got legs, I was so confused why you land folk seemed so scandalized. I thought perhaps the change hadn't worked properly." He chuckled a bit.
"Do your people wear nothing?" she scoffed, slightly disbelieving as she couldn't say she'd ever seen any merfolk in their natural home before to know for herself. She supposed clothing would be rather cumbersome to be forever waterlogged, though.
"How do you stay warm? You just...do?"
Unbothered by her tone, Luca shrugged. "No, we don't," he said simply. Then a small smile. "I suppose we just do is as good an explanation as any. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe our temperatures adjust to the water around us- rather like fish."
Of course, he wasn't exactly a scholar. That was mostly an educated guess.
"Ah." She had no idea herself and she filed the thought away as a mere note of relatively worthless information she'd likely never need again.
"So you collect junk." It was a peculiar thought. Did he have any concept of what might have been valuable or beautiful in a more human world? "Where do you get all of that? Where do you keep it? Just in there?" She gestured at his little sack again.
He frowned a bit at the word "junk", but shrugged it off. "I get it all over," he said easily. "Sometimes people drop things from ships, or leave things on the shoreline. Lately I've been trying to get on land myself more."
Then he looked down at the ratty bag and chuckled, shaking his head. "No, it's not all in here. I keep it in my home. There's lots more there," he said, a little proudly maybe.
"Really? More?" Her brows rose in interest, a slight glimmer of greed in her eyes as she glanced over his belongings again to see if she could spot anything worthwhile. "And where is home?" she asked, unashamed of her own forwardness. "Some cave?"
His head waggled from side to side. "Of a sort," he replied, completely oblivious to her attitude and any potential warnings it should have given him. "It's actually not far from here. Though I don't know if a human could reach it," he mused, brow furrowing.
His concern was a mere inconvenience to Awiergan. She crossed her arms again and gave herself a moment. Could she really trust a merman she barely knew for the chance a few odd trinkets? What he carried wasn't all that impressive but that didn't mean she couldn't snatch a few of his great "treasures" if she had the chance.
"Is there air? Or is it all underwater?" she asked distractedly. The piratess knew she could be counted upon to hold her breath, though for how long she was not certain.
"There's air inside," Luca said slowly. "But it's getting there that's the problem. There's this maze of underwater tunnels and caves. No way a human could hold their breath that long."
Although...there were some legends about his people, about a certain ability... But he wasn't about to risk someone's life on a bunch and some old stories.
"Ahh. That's really just too bad, isn't it?" she sighed, though her mind kept spinning and wondering. It was probably for the best. For all she knew he was one of those awful sirens in disguise and he was out to lure her out to drown with all his talk of his collection. Yet, she still couldn't put it from her mind.
"Perhaps you could show me a few things instead?" she suggested, gesturing out towards the land only barely beyond the horizon. "We should make port tomorrow if the weather stays calm."
Expression clearing, Luca nodded happily. "I can do that," he agreed easily. Then his brow furrowed slightly and he added with a soft chuckle, "Though if we're on land, I have a feeling you'l be the one doing most of the showing."
She only barely stifled a snort at the ridiculousness. He must have been truly oblivious and clueless if he'd managed to gather a bunch of odds and ends but hadn't taken the time to truly learn much of anything.
"What could I possibly show you that you haven't seen before?" Awiergan shook her head in disbelief but knew she would probably oblige him if it meant she got her own peeks at his collection. Perhaps she could show him the odd trick, though. The merman hadn't even known how to rub two coins together before he'd met her after all.
"Anything!" he exclaimed, gesturing widely with an arm. "Everything up here is so fascinating. I'd be happy to learn anything you might be willing to teach."
His eyes flitted over the deck, easily distracted, and he asked offhandedly, "It this your boat?" She seemed very comfortable on it, and she'd been able to show him where and what the cargo was.
"What? Oh, no. No, no, I just worked here today," she explained, gesturing out towards land again. "For passage."
She had no idea what she could teach really or how to even teach him, though. Would he understand her words for things? "I'm not going to spend a bunch of time teaching you out of the goodness of my heart, you know. You have some way to pay for lessons?" Perhaps she was asking a dangerous question considering she wanted to know what the merman's most treasured possessions consisted of.
Luca tilted his head. "I have the...money you gave me," he said slowly. "Is that what you mean? If so, there's a lot more in my home. Could I pay you with that?"
It was just too easy, wasn't it? Surely there had to be a catch.
"Depends on how much, but I think I could accept that, yes. How much do you think you have?" It was difficult, so difficult to hide the greed from her eyes. She stared at the oblivious merman with an open hunger now, curious about what he could offer her.
"That's...hard to say," Luca mused. He frowned a bit at the change in her expression, then shrugged it off. "I don't know exact numbers." He trailed off, thinking for a moment, then said slowly, "Maybe..." His eyes lit on one of the barrels and he pointed to it. "A few of those worth?"
"Mmm," she hummed, working hard to keep her expression neutral to that news despite how it excited something in her belly.
"And where did you get it all? Didn't steal it, did you?"
He thought back to what he'd observed her doing the night before and shook his head. "No. I find it. Sometimes in big piles, sometimes a few coins at a time. Lots of sunken wrecks have them scattered all over the place."
Luca eyed her curiously. He seemed to have piqued her interest, somehow.
"Ah. That must look quite pretty," she purred, gesturing down at her feet. "Being underwater and all." Awiergan was certain it would look even better on land and dry and put to good use. Where was a bit of an unknown, though. She couldn't exactly draw attention to herself in a little seaside town with barrels of coin without consequence.
"And you have nothing in particular you want to learn? Just everything?" she chuckled.
"It is," Luca agreed, nodding and smiling, completely oblivious. Then his eyes positively lit up and he nodded even more vigorously. "Yes. Everything."
"Well, why don't you tell me what you do already know? Surely not everything would be new to you, right? You said you've been among people before." She picked up one of the apples on the deck and rubbed it clean of salt and sand on her shirt before taking a bite.
He shrugged. "Oh, well yes. I mean, I'm not a complete infant," he chuckled, realizing how he'd been coming across. "I suppose I meant...well, I seem to have a decent grasps of the basics of your world. It just want to know more." He gave her a sheepish sort of smile. "It's kinda hard to explain without an example in front of me, you know?"
"Well," she began thoughtfully, lifting her head to look around them at what she could see by the moonlight. "What about those?" she asked, pointing up towards the sails. "Do you know what those are?" He'd known what a boat was, it wasn't a far-fetched guess that he might know all the rigging as well.
"Sails," Luca replied, nodding. Then he gave her a questioning look. "Er, I think. Right?" He gestured to the ropes and rigging. "I know these somehow connect and control them, but I'm not sure how." Rubbing the back of his neck, he felt his cheeks grow a little warm.
"This is what I mean. I sorta...I know basics. But just basics. It's quite frustrating." He huffed a bit.
"Yes, sails. And there's just rope, mostly," she supplied, setting her hand to a section that was wrapped around the mast. She smiled slightly, not feeling guilty in the least that she found his struggling a little endearing. At least he was trying. "Just helps to hang them in different ways. Depending on weather and all... You've seen storms, right?"
He nodded again, though for the first time without much enthusiasm. "Yes. They are dangerous to our kind if we're not careful." His lips twitched up on one side. "I can't help myself from watching as close to the surface as I can though."
He'd almost been beached in a storm once because of his own curiosity. Looking around, he frowned a bit. "This ship is big, but...storms are bigger. How does this hold up against the waves and wind?" For he assumed it must, in order for it to be a viable form of transportation.
"It just does. Floats pretty well. Bad storms can sink a ship, though," she explained, frowning a bit herself as she gestured out at the water. "And that's how you get your wrecks down below. If the weather is too bad it can just completely turn one of these over. Then it doesn't float so well."
His eyes widened a bit. "I've never seen one capsized," he murmured. That would certainly be interesting. Shaking his head, he added, "I know storms sometimes sink them, I guess I'm just surprised it doesn't happen more often. Most of the wrecks I find have this big holes in the side, one was even cracked in half!"
He looked at her with wide eyes. "Do you know how that happens?"
Awiergan flinched slightly in memory, her eyes darkening a bit as she stared off at the water. "That happens sometimes. Monsters. Attacks. Haven't you ever seen them? Giant...kraken." She wasn't sure if he would know the word, but she assumed as a creature of the sea he would know what she was referring to.
Realization his him and his eyes went very round. "You mean those..." Luca shuddered. "I didn't even know they could get that close to the surface," he breathed in a mixture of awe and fear. "I've only ever...I thought they could only survive in deep caverns."
Though the only time he'd encountered such a creature it had been sleeping, so perhaps that was simply where they rested.
She shrugged, stepping closer to the rail to look down into the darkness of the water below. "They're not very fond of ships, I don't think. Probably get the most problems in deeper water, though. Maybe there's some...noise or something they don't like." She shrugged, it was all purely speculation but at least it seemed he knew what she was talking about.
"Scary things, though. I'm sure there are lots of nasty creatures out there," she shuddered, glancing to him with sympathy. At least she didn't have to live among them.
"There are some," he murmured, shifting so he was leaning on the rail beside her. "But...there are some truly beautiful things too." He smiled a little wistfully. "My kinda are lucky, we can experience both worlds. I've never understood why more of my people don't take advantage of that gift."
"Well why don't they? Are they afraid? Or is it just...odd?" she wondered, frowning slightly. If they were as free to do so as he seemed she wasn't sure why they would not want to take advantage of such a thing. She assumed it was difficult to maintain two "lives" like that, though. A home on land and at sea likely meant little time was spent in either.
"I think most of them are afraid," he mused. "Though I suppose they have a reason. There are humans who would capture our kind for...a variety of rather unsavory purposes." Luca frowned a bit. He didn't entirely understand the human art of alchemy, but he'd hear that merfolk's scales and tears and such could be used in it.
And then of course, there were those with unique tastes, people who thought having a mermaid or a merman as a concubine would fascinating and exotic.
"Ah. I think I understand." She pushed off the rail to straighten up. There was just as much risk in being human, she thought, but it wasn't an idea she particularly enjoyed dwelling upon.
"And why are you not afraid, Luca? Or are you anyway?" she asked, turning to look at him again. It was a little silly for such a tall man to be standing there wearing almost nothing as they talked, but she supposed if it didn't make him uncomfortable she was fine with him remaining in such a way.
"I...suppose I am," he said slowly, considering it. "It's just- it seems silly to let fear keep me from discovery." He shrugged, giving her a small smile.
Well at least it seemed like he was being honest. "Smart man," she praised passively.
"It's probably pretty easy to hide what you are, though, right? I mean, just cover the..." she trailed off, gesturing to her own ears. "Fins."
"Oh?" He reached up to touch his ears, then smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I suppose they do stand out." He pulled his hair forward to cover them, then tilted his head at her. "Better?"
Awiergan furrowed her brow as she studied him, stepping closer to rearrange his hair a bit better. She ran a hand against it and, scrutinizing her work. Satisfied nothing was poking through she stepped back to look him over again. "Like that, yeah. People just... wouldn't expect to see something like that," she explained with a shrug. "If they didn't know. Surprising people isn't always a good thing."
A little startled by here sudden proximity, Luca nodded wordlessly. "Ah, thank you," he mumbled when she stepped back. He cracked a small smile. "Yes. I learned that human can react quite explosively when surprised my first visit on land." He frowned a bit, remembering. "I believe a female actually fainted." He shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Oh well. I learned to wear clothes from that, at least."
She barked in laughter at the image, although she pitied him a bit that his first encounter with humans had been with the more delicate and sensitive of her kind. "I'd believe that," she chuckled darkly.
"Are you...going to ride this all the way in, then? Or going back down?" She pointed over the rail at the water lapping at the hull.
"Oh. Um..." He hadn't actually thought about that. "Am I allowed to ride with you?" he asked curiously, tilting his head.
She smirked for the way he tilted his head, thinking he looked quite the part of a puppy. "I don't see why not if you want to stay." It wasn't her ship, but what would one more passenger cost them really if they already had her along?
He beamed. "Then I'd very much appreciate it. Thank you." Glancing around the ship again, he said, "We'll be docking tomorrow then? Isn't that what you said?"
"Tomorrow, yeah," she answered distractedly, turning her attention back to the food she'd left out and open. She crossed to "fix" it all as best as she could and restack everything she'd left disturbed. She didn't need to get chewed out for that in addition to letting him stay.
Kicking apples away from the rest to get rid of the evidence she at last turned toward the stairs that would lead down below and paused to look at him. "Do merfolk sleep?"
Luca watched with interested as she sorted things out, then moved to follow her, not really sure what else to do. "Hm? Oh, yes. Of course we do," he chuckled quietly.
"You never know. There are strange creatures out there." Awiergan took a few steps down before looking back at him. "I guess...come with me? Probably somewhere here you can sleep." Well, she would assume so at least. Most men didn't want to bother bunking near her so she was sure there would at least be one cot free for the merman to sleep on.
"Alright." He followed after her easily, looking around the stairwell that led below decks with open curiosity. "Very kind of you, thanks," he offered, a little belatedly.
She shrugged. It wasn't her place to offer, but she didn't really care. "Nothing to thank me for."
Stepping carefully through the darkness she kept a hand to the wall to guide her as she followed it down to the room she'd chosen as her "home" aboard the ship. She carefully lit a lantern to hold up in the darkness. Once she determined there was nobody else staying in the room she gestured at the cot across from her own before sitting down and setting the lantern on the floor.
Having little need for propriety in front of someone that wasn't even human she wasted no time in getting out of her coat, unstrapping her knives, and kicking off her boots to set them aside. She stripped down to a basic shift and let down her hair from the confines of its braid as if she did such a thing every day with no privacy at all. "They shouldn't bother you if you're with me, I don't even work here, so-"
The piratess shrugged before flopping over to lay on her side. "Safe to sleep."
Luca sort of wanted to stop and examine the "innards" of the ship, but he didn't want to inconvenience his host anymore than he had, so he simply followed her to the room.
Settling himself onto the cot, he gave her another nod and a smile. "Thank you." He cast a quick glance around. "A little cramped in here, isn't it?" he commented nonchalantly.
She gestured at what space was between them. "The bigger the ship the more expensive to build and maintain," she explained with a soft yawn. "This is pretty normal for 'living' space." At the back of her mind she wondered if he might keep her up all night with more questions instead.
"Blow that out when you're...done being awake," she murmured, flopping a hand in the general direction of the lantern on the floor.
He may be pretty naive, but he could take a hint. Usually. Smiling a bit, Luca realized she was tired and probably wouldn't want to keep answering his questions.
"Yes. Alright." He leaned toward the lantern, spared a moment to be fascinated by the fire as he always was, and blew it out.
The darkness wasn't complete to him, his eyes were accustomed to it and he managed to navigate to the cot and lay down without trouble. "Do humans say or do something special before they sleep together?" he asked quietly, making a mental promise that it would be the last question of the evening.
Even without the light she remained alert and waiting, certain he would speak again at some point. When he did she could only laugh at his poor wording. "This isn't exactly sleeping together," she explained gently, much as she struggled to keep from snickering any more.
"We say... 'good night' when we are near others. Um, companions." She supposed that was accurate enough if he was going to be tailing her. "Good night," she bid him in a softer, sleepier tone.
This wasn't sleeping together? It seemed like it to him. Shrugging the thought away, he settled into the cot and replied, "Good night, then," letting his eyes drift closed.
Awiergan slept easily enough, the rocking of the ship upon the water a welcome sensation to coax her into a land of dreams. The sounds of the waking crew in the rooms around them weren't quite enough to rouse her come morning. She was used to sleeping through a lot and there was little she might be needed for until they docked. Well, if she even felt like helping them at all. She did have a merman to teach now and that was probably going to be a more profitable use of her time.
She was grumpy as anything upon waking, though. The small, cramped cot left her with quite a sore neck and she nearly fell over trying to get up and stretch with the way the ship tossed about in the surf. Her sea legs hadn't quite caught up with her yet.
Luca woke quickly and easily, and once he did he was awake. Not wanting to bother Aweirgan, he waited until she began to stir and finally climb out of her cot before he jumped from his own.
"Morning," he practically chirped, flashing a smile. His apple-sack-kilt had gone slightly askew in the night, but he didn't seem to notice.
She startled slightly for the sudden, perky voice in her face and rubbed at her eyes in an effort to clear the fog of sleep. "So you know that one," she observed, looking him up and down by what little light seeped into the room from the cracks between the boards above.
"Morning," she finally greeted, turning her back to him to dress again. For a brief moment she thought of handing him one of her knives but thought better of it. There was no reason to partially disarm herself when he was more likely to hurt himself with it than act in any sort of self defense.
"Ready for land?" she asked conversationally, peeking at him over her shoulder as she twisted her hair together with sleepy hands.
He nodded happily. "For the next two days at least, yes." Shouldering his pack, he watched with interest as she braided her hair. "I've seen humans do that before," he noted. "Why is that? Don't you like letting your hair down?"
He couldn't actually recall having ever bothered to do something to tame his own hair. There was really no point underwater.
"Sometimes," she shrugged. "It just gets hot and in the way most of the time, though." The piratess eyed him curiously, wondering what it was that seemed so off about him. Once she was done she reached to gingerly adjust his makeshift kilt with a grimace.
"Need to keep wearing that," she reminded him. "Properly. Can probably find you something to wear on land unless..."
Awiergan hurried to the door to poke her head out to peer down the hall. Nobody was there, everyone else seemed to be on deck already. It would be easier to blend in if he were clothed anyhow.
"Stay here," she told him quietly before slipping out and rummage through a few other rooms nearby for any spare clothing. He was taller than most but lean enough that he'd likely be able to wear something even if a bit awkwardly.
Returning with a few articles of clothing she tossed them to his cot and turned her back to him. "Try those on, would you?"
Luca waited patiently, if curiously, and glanced at the clothes with interest when she returned. Shrugging, he agreed easily, "Alright then," and set about attempting to dress himself.
The pants were easy. He'd had practice with those. The shirt was another matter. He knew how it should go on, logically, but somehow...
"Um..." He coughed awkwardly, shuffling his feet. He really wasn't sure how he'd managed it, but his arms seemed to be in the wrong sleeves, trapped crossed over his chest. And he couldn't seem to get them out. "I don't suppose-" He coughed again, for the first time actually feeling a bit embarrassed about one of his blunders. "Could- could you help me with this?"
Waiting and listening patiently to the shuffling she could hear Awiergan was a little surprised when he asked for her help. "Why? Did you-" She spun quickly and tried not to laugh at his misfortune of tangled clothing.
"Oh my," she sighed, snickering lightly as she approached him and carefully lifted the shirt up to free him without tearing it. "I suppose I shouldn't ask how you managed that," she teased, turning the garment around before holding it out to him the correct way. "Try that."
Oh. Yes, this was much easier. Giving her a sheepish grin, he tugged the hem of the shirt to make sure it was on properly. "Thanks," he mumbled, cheeks warm.
"Shirts are difficult, fish man," she teased, reaching up to adjust his hair so it covered his ear-fins again.
"You look ready, I think you'll be fine without shoes. Are there any...limitations I should know about? Any special merfolk requirements?"
Requirements?
"Well, I have to be back in the water by the time the moon sets tomorrow night," Luca replied, tilting his head as he considered it. "I can't think of anything else- but if I do I'll let you know."
Well that was easy enough. She didn't plan on dragging him across the country just for a bit of exploring anyway. "I wasn't sure if you needed anything weird. Bucket of seawater or something," she mumbled thoughtfully before shrugging. If it wasn't something important enough for him to mention she wouldn't worry herself with it.
She grabbed the rest of her belongings before heading out but paused in the hall. "Any questions this morning before we get out there? They'll...look at you funny if I'm explaining certain things I think."
"Oh. Um..." Normally he was brimming with questions, but now that he was under pressure to ask he couldn't think of anything. "No...no, nothing I can think of at the moment." He gave her a quick smile. "Lead the way."
She almost asked again to double check, but he was a grown man, even though he didn't exactly seem like one, and she thought it would be best to just trust that he spoke the truth.
Leading him back up on deck she was thankful that they didn't get too many odd looks. She pointed out the way the sails were being adjusted as they angled toward the shore. Sitting up on the railing she gestured to the buildings of the town in the distance. "Almost there. How did you like sleeping on a boat? A little different, isn't it?"
"Hm? Oh, yes." He'd been distracted by the activity on deck. "I actually found it more pleasant than sleeping on land, I think. The rocking motions were quite soothing." Almost like the drift of sleeping in currents, though not quite.
Awiergan nodded in agreement. "It is, I like it, too. Always been comfortable. Hammocks give a similar feeling. It's a land thing. Maybe I can show you those tonight," she mused quietly. "Well... You have slept on land, right?"
Luca nodded. "A few times, yes," he said with a quick smile. "Mostly on beaches though, so I can still hear the sea."
Excitement was starting to build in his chest and he looked around again curiously as they drew closer to the shore. "Where are we going, exactly?" he asked, looking at her.
She kept an eye on him, smiling a little for his obvious excitement. "Should be Lorvale if they told me right. It's smaller than Cerenis but still a big town," she explained, not that that would help if he didn't really know how the human towns dotted the coast. "Ever been here?"
He shook his head. "I don't believe so." With a shrug and a sheepish smile, he added, "But then, I've never really bothered to learn the names of the towns. I don't recognize the coastline though."
"Do you just stay around here, then? On the east coast? Or do you travel all over?" she wondered, curious where she might find other merfolk like himself someday.
He shrugged. "I go where the tides take me," he responded easily, vaguely. "When they bring me close to land, I come up and explore for a bit. Then I move on." He glanced at her and, assuming her unspoken question, added with a smile, "Most of my kind are nomadic, but like I said- they usually avoid humans."
"But you said you have somewhere close by. A cave." She frowned some in thought and winced a bit. It wouldn't be good to talk about such things so loudly and openly with others around them. And she'd been worried about him being the loudmouth.
"Is that not your home?"
"Well, yes," he agreed with a shrug. "But we don't have homes in the way humans think of them. We have...places we go to rest. Where we keep our treasures." Though he had a particular fascination with human items, his hoarding impulse was not a trait unique to himself. "That's what my cave it for me."
"Ah. Sounds a lot like me, I guess... Do you have more than one place you rest?" It made sense if they were nomadic. Why a nomadic creature would keep any treasures at all was a little confusing, though.
She held onto the rail a bit tighter as the ship lurched on a gust of wind. She looked up towards the jiggling ropes that pulled the sails in a bit more as they neared the dock. "Be careful," she noted distractedly, looking out towards the ramp that was being prepared for their arrival. "It's a little...weird to get down sometimes. Ship likes to move still."
Awiergan hopped down from her perch to wait patiently and kept her head down hoping to not catch the eye of the captain for help with the ship's cargo.
Luca shook his head. "Just the one, really. There are other places I frequent when I need them but I only have one...home."
He nodded at her warning and carefully and moved to stand next to her as they waited, taking in her rather unobtrusive posture with a glance and trying to mimic it.
When at last the ship jolted to a halt she was quick to hurry down to the dock, stumbling a bit against her own advice to him to be cautious. It felt nice to be back on land, much as she loved the sea.
She hurried towards the town, ignoring the orders barked behind them to the busy sailors unloading the ship. "What do you want to see first?" she asked, not realizing that he might not even know what any of the buildings before them had to offer.
Luca hurried after her, resisting the urge to gawk at the new sights around him. "Oh, um...what do you think I should see first?" he queried, answering a question with a question because honestly he didn't even know where to start.
"Well, what do you find interesting about human life?" she tried instead. "What do you want to know about most?" That "everything" could truly mean everything she still hadn't grasped.
"Well, um..." Luca looked around. Just about everything was new to him, it was a little overwhelming. "Is there a place you usually go when you've first docked? Perhaps you could take me there."
"Well there isn't really a usual place," she mumbled distractedly. "Depends on your motives." She glanced over the buildings before them before finally deciding on a tavern. It was a little early to be drinking or dining out still, but perhaps her travel companion would loosen up over a bit of the local fare.
"How about a drink?" she suggested even as she grabbed the sleeve of his shirt to tug him along with her.
"A drink?" He followed after her easily, trailing like a puppy even while he tried to take in the sights around them. "Alright, I'm thirsty," he said with a shrug. "I never had to drink water before, but I've discovered if I go too long on land without it it starts to become uncomfortable."
"It's more than just water." Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to give him anything after all. He was a creature of the sea. He'd managed well enough with land food but she was curious how any of the drinks might affect him.
"Or you can just have water if you don't want to try. Probably some decent mead and beer in a town like this," she explained, leading him to duck into the dimly-lit establishment.
"Mead? Beer?" Luca repeated, trailing after her. Those words were new to him.
He looked around the tavern with interest, actually pausing for a moment to turn in a circle as he observed the place. The dim light didn't bother him, but it struck him as odd that humans- whose eyesight he'd gathered was weaker than his- would choose to congregate in such a place.
"It smells interesting in here," he noted, moving up to Awiergan's side. "Very different from outside." Scents were always interesting to him. You couldn't exactly smell much underwater.
Awiergan watched as he turned, waiting for him to return to her before she led him to a table to sit down. "Interesting how?" she snorted, trying not to laugh. She gestured to the barrels of drink in the corner and then to the few other patrons that were milling about so early. "Places like this are stale and reek of men," she complained, not bothering to keep her voice down. "Especially at night."
Luca arched an eyebrow and smirked a bit. "Then why did you want to come in?" he asked with a quiet chuckle. "You obviously hold some distaste for the place."
"Well, it's a good place to show you...normal humans," she explained in a quieter voice, scowling at the table as she traced the grain of the wood. "Humans with their guard down. And drink. Good place to drink."
Awiergan flagged down the barmaid and ordered a few things for them to share. There was no sense in wasting money on something if he wasn't going to have it and she figured if there was something he did like he could just have the whole thing. "You'll see."
"Ah." He nodded in understanding. That made sense, observing creatures in their natural habitat. Though he doubted she would appreciate that particular viewpoint.
"Those men keep looking at us," he noted, nodding to a group at the bar. "Well, at you." He cracked a smile. "For once, I'm not the one being stared at."
She glanced to where he indicated, easily spotting the group leering at her. "That's a thing men do. Rude ones, at least," she said pointedly before returning to tracing the table. She didn't even look up once their drinks had arrived.
"That's a thing, too, I suppose. Don't stare at strangers. Even if you like how they look. It makes them uncomfortable. Nervous," she explained, finally lifting her head to gesture at the mugs. She had no intention of making a scene of it as she might have without a lost pup to worry about. "Try those. See what you like."
Luca shot another glance at the group of men, frowning a bit, and nodded. "They aren't even looking at me and they're making me uncomfortable," he muttered. Not really sure why he did, he shifted a bit to shield his companion from view.
"What is this?" he asked, distracted by the arrival of the drinks and reaching out for a random mug. He sniffed at it and wrinkled his nose. "Strange..."
Awiergan watched him, smiling slightly for his reaction. "A beer." She separated the mug of water from the rest. "This one's safe if you don't like any of the others."
She pointed to the mead and the additional wine that had been brought and named them for him before reaching for one of her stolen coin purses. Plunking a few coins on the table she set them aside so she wouldn't "forget" to pay as she normally would have.
Luca sipped at the beer and recoiled, wrinkling his nose. "Humans like this?" he said incredulously, giving the mug a dirty look. He moved on to try the wine with marginally more success, then the mead.
The mead he actually liked. He could ignore the bitter taste that he didn't recognize as alcohol and focus on the sweetness. "This is kind of nice," he said, taking another swallow.
She observed his testing with barely-contained amusement, taking up the rejected beer for herself to drink as he decided. "They do. And many other things, too."
Awiergan took a few sips and leaned against the table in thought for a moment before realizing she hadn't warned him. "Oh. Don't worry if you feel...weird or anything." She winced and gestured at her chest and head as if it should have been explanation enough. "I don't know how merfolk handle their liquor. Hopefully not badly."
"Feel weird?" he repeated with a small frown, sipping continuously at his drink. He followed her gestures curiously and nodded, though he really didn't understand what she meant.
He started to though, after almost finishing the mead. His head began to feel fuzzy and there was a strange but warm feeling taking up residence in his chest. Oh. "I think...I see what you were getting at," he said slowly, voice a little thicker than normal.
Awiergan nursed her own drink slowly, savoring the taste of something different even though it wasn't all that good, and eyed him curiously when he finally spoke again. "Oh yeah? How does it feel? Bad? Good?"
"Different..." Luca said slowly. "I think- I think good different." He downed the last of his drink, considered it, and smiled. "Yes, good different," he mused.
He looked up at her and said in total amazement, "You're glowing- did you know you do that?"
At least he'd found something he liked. She considered the day a success just for teaching him what alcohol to get the next time he was among humans on land. "Great," she drawled, sipping at her own drink a bit more before he spoke again.
"Pardon? Glowing?" Awiergan laughed and looked away for a moment before glancing down at herself. No, not glowing. Definitely not glowing, at least that she could see. "Where am I glowing?" she asked, humoring him and gesturing at herself.
Luca beamed at her. "All over." He reached out as though to touch a halo around her, and his hand suddenly found itself skimming over her hair. "No, wait, not glowing exactly... More like..." He shrugged, still smiling giddily.
"I dunno. Can't describe it. It's like you're lit up from the inside, like I only just noticed it." He caught a lock of her hair and twisted it around his finger, staring at it in rapt fascination. "Is this what you meant about...feeling weird?" he asked fuzzily.
Well she certainly couldn't see it or feel it, but she was amused by his reaction. "Maybe. Maybe merfolk just have..." She waved her hand in gesture as if that might help her recall the words that were slipping away from her mind. "Different feelings," she finally decided, completely unbothered by his fascination with her hair.
She set down her mug once it was finally empty and immediately took a few sips of water before starting on the wine that had been left between them. "Did you want any more of this?" she asked, pointing at it with her free hand.
He shook his head. "No...no I'm fine." Blinking, he forced himself to drop her hair and sit back a bit, though he was still looking at her curiously. "Where do you go next?" he asked, tone eager but words starting to slur a bit. He frowned. Was that normal?
"Anywhere," she shrugged, wondering what might interest him the most. "You want to see the market? It's where humans can buy common food."
Luca nodded quickly. "Yes, that sounds good." Food sounded good. Since that apple the previous evening, he hadn't had anything to eat.
"Probably good after this anyway," she agreed, smiling slightly as she gestured at the various mugs between them. "Let's go, then."
She stood carefully and moved the coins upon the table to the very edge. "C'mon," she sighed stretching and cracking her neck a bit before heading for the door and back out into the sunlight.
Jumping up to follow her, Luca suddenly swayed on his feet. "Whoa," he mumbled, frowning. His head was spinning a bit and he sort of staggered after her, blinking in the light.
She eyed him for a moment as she turned to shield herself from the sun, pleasant day that it was. Deciding he was probably all right enough to follow her she led him down to the square and took in the relatively familiar sight of the various stalls set up that day.
"You tried fruit already." She pointed out at a fruit stall that had much more than the apples he'd tried. "Do you see anything you want? And don't tell me everything," she teased, gesturing to a few more vendors with various food, everything from bread to meat.
Luca flashed her a quick grin. "I see we're getting to know each other," he laughed quietly- because his first reflex had been, of course, everything.
He sniffed at the air and turned, still a little fuzzy in the head and feeling warm and light, in the direction of a particular smell. It seemed to be coming from one of the vendors who was selling some kind of meat...on a stick?
"That." He looked at Awiergan. "What's that?"
As he turned she followed him, leaning forward once he'd chosen to peer around him at the stall fairly near the butcher shop. "Ahh. Meat," she explained. "Like fish, but a different animal."
She approached and realized the smell was pork on the skewers. Paying for some for them she held one out to him. "It's pork. Um, from a pig. Have you ever seen those?" Well, they were quite tasty in her opinion. She moved out off the main road and into the shade a bit to eat without the sun right in her eyes.
Sniffing the meat, Luca followed her absently. "Pig?" He shook his head, brow furrowing. "No, I don't...wait, I heard a woman calling someone that once."
His eyes widened and he reared back, holding the stick away from his body. "Is this human?" he asked, voice still rather slurred from drink and probably louder than he'd intended it to be.
Awiergan startled slightly and paused from the bite she'd been about to take. She just stared at him, blinking for a moment before shaking her head and reaching to tug him closer and try to shush him with a lower voice. "No, no. That uh... Remember the men that stared? That's a pig, too. Just not the eating kind," she laughed.
She gestured at the ground and held her hand down flat and much lower down by her knee. "Animal pigs are about that tall. Perfectly safe for eating. Nothing human about them."
"Oh." He relaxed a bit, bringing the skewer closer to his face to sniff at it again.
"It's not that I didn't think it was safe to eat humans," he explained casually. "I just found the idea kinda distasteful. I know some of our females do it, but I've never found the idea appealing." He nibbled at the pork and his eyes widened a bit. "This is good!"
She winced slightly at the mention of such a thing, a little unsettled that the rumors about his kind seemed true. At least he didn't seem eager to gnaw off her arm, but given how curious he was she hoped he never became interested in the idea.
His look of enjoyment was enough of a reward for the moment, though, and she let the unhappy thoughts melt away in favor of present company. "Isn't it?" Awiergan smiled proudly as she bit into her own lunch. "It's very unique. Other land animals taste different," she explained, gesturing back to the stall. "Rabbit and birds. All kind of game you can't get at sea."
"I suppose I can't really try everything at once, though I wish I could," Luca chuckled, following the gesture of her hand and taking another bite of his pork.
Someone laughed in the market, an innocent enough sound, but it caught his attention. Whipping around to find the source, he suddenly swayed on his feet. "Whoa. I think I need to..." His knees gave out and he more or less collapsed to the ground. "Sit."
His head was spinning. He looked up at Awiergan and blinked. "I think that- that mead was- you're glowing again." He smiled happily, eyes sort of unfocused.
The piratess hissed lightly and shuffled to the side a bit to look down at him with some semblance of concern. "Glowing? I think that mead was too much for you," she laughed, amused at his innocent fumbling as she moved to sit beside him instead. It was nice to not have to worry about balance anyway even though she handled her drinks a bit better.
"I don't think merfolk and alcohol go together very well. Remind me not to give you any next time," she teased, though she wasn't really certain if there ever would be a next time. A pirate and thief on the run wasn't exactly the best host for an innocent and gullible man, but the gold he claimed to have was tempting enough to entertain the idea.
"That's probably best," Luca agreed, nodding vaguely. He grinned at her and leaned in, meaning to bump her with his shoulder. "It was fun to try though."
His balance was even worse than he'd thought, and instead of nudging her shoulder with his he found himself suddenly tottering, somehow ending up sprawled across her lap. He blinked, then smiled up at her. "Hello."
Tilting his head a bit, he commented, "You know, you're quite pretty from this angle. I mean, you're pretty from any angle, for a human."
She grunted for the sudden weight on her lap and stared down at him accusingly despite the ever-present smile she was met with. "Hello yourself."
They weren't entirely harsh, but her features lightened considerably for his sudden compliments. It felt sincere enough, much as it was a comparison at the same time.
"For a human." Awiergan rolled her eyes, but it certainly had earned him a genuine smile from her in her haziness. "I hear mermaids are even more pretty than human girls. Is that true?" She'd also heard other things- that they were fearsome creatures and as much monster as beauty, but she wasn't sure a member of the same race would be a good person to confirm that through.
"Yes, they're usually very pretty," Luca said easily. "I think it's an evolutionary trait- like an angler fish, you know? It lures smaller fish to it with a light, then eats them. Mermaids don't have a light, they have their songs, and their beauty, but it's the same principal."
It didn't occur to him that this may be an awkward subject to be discussing. He let his eyes close and shuffled a bit to get more comfortable on her lap. "You sorta remind me of them, in a strange way," he said. "Beautiful, but dangerous. Even though you're nice to me, I can tell. Deadly pretty." His lips twitched up at the corners, pleased with that description.
Angler fish? The name was unfamiliar to her, but she just assumed it was something deep in the ocean where merfolk could reach easier than men. His description of them seemed eerily similar to accounts she'd heard of men disappearing near water. Perhaps it was all true, but she was pleased enough he could recognize the danger of her. So he wasn't entirely oblivious.
"Well what about you?" she asked, curious to learn more of what he could tell her of his own kind. She adjusted a little since he seemed like he wasn't going to just get up on his own. She could last a little while at least before it became uncomfortable. "Do males do the same thing with the singing? And...luring? Just so I'm prepared. I'm...on ships a lot."
"Hm? Oh, no, we don't," he said airily, eyes still closed. "My people are matriarchal. Our females are usually the more aggressive ones, we stick to easier prey- fish and such." He shrugged. "As long as your not attracted to women, their lures won't work on you."
"Interesting..." She wanted to ask the purpose in the males still being equally attractive, at least in her opinion if they all were similar to himself, but decided against it. She didn't need a history of his species like such a thing was normal conversation between two people lounging in a market square.
"Do you want to look through the rest of the market? See if there's anything you want to add to your...collection?"
"You don't mind?" He opened his eyes and sat up a bit, smiling at the prospect. "Yes, I'd like that." His face fell a bit suddenly and he tilted his head at her.
"I wish I could show you my...home," he said vaguely. "I think you would like it." Glancing back at the market, he mused, "There may be a way to help you survive underwater that long, but I'm not sure if it actually works."
If he hadn't still been fuzzy-headed from drink, he probably never would have mentioned it, not wanting her to decide it was worth the risk and have the idea fail.
She narrowed her eyes in thought at the additional mention of his home. He'd said before that humans couldn't hold their breath long enough to reach it yet he seemed to know of something he hadn't mentioned before. That certainly got her interest.
"How?" she asked curiously, looking out towards the vendors they hadn't visited yet.
"Old magic," Luca replied vaguely, getting to his feet carefully and swaying a bit. "You ever heard the legend that a mermaid's kiss can keep a man from drowning?" He shrugged. "There are stories among my kind, but...well, there's nothing that says it wouldn't work with a merman."
She'd heard such a story somewhere before but it was long ago and certainly not something she'd thought would have had any merit, especially when the roles were reversed. Did such a thing even matter if it was just magic?
"If you think it can work more than once...we could give it a try in shallow water, right? I mean, I'd really like to see it. It's probably so pretty, but-" It would have to work, wouldn't it? Awiergan knew she was probably too eager and unable to keep her cards as close to her chest as she would have liked after a few drinks and the prospect of such a bounty of gold before her.
"I suppose we could," Luca replied, smiling slightly. "I just don't want to do something silly and risk your life juat so you can see a few pretty caves." Although they were very pretty, if he did say so himself.
"It doesn't seem silly," she insisted, shaking her head as she carefully climbed to her feet. She wobbled slightly but recovered easily enough once she got her feet firmly planted on the ground again.
"We'll...test it." Yes, that was the word. "See if it works. If it doesn't, then that's it. If it does... I'd really like to see them." It hadn't really occurred to her that she was bargaining to enter someone's home, but even if she had the lack of propriety wouldn't have bothered her.
"Let's not worry about that now, though. Still plenty to see out here." She smiled up at him easily enough and gestured to the stalls again before she moved to pass through the loosely clustered groups of people to them.
He frowned a bit, then shrugged and nodded. "Alright. If that's what you want." He followed after her- slowly, his balance was still a little off- and looked around at the stalls again.
"Do you want something else to eat?" he asked, assuming that the market only sold food.
"Not really. If you see something you want to try, though, let me know. It's on me." She patted her coat pocket lightly. A few bits of glimmer and shine caught her eye, though, and she pointed down the way towards a jeweler's stall. "Let's go there. Probably have something you'll like."
"Oh, I'm not really hungry..." In fact his stomach still felt a little odd from the mead and pork in combination. He nodded, eyes flicking to where she pointed. "Alright," he agreed easily, eyes lighting on the glints that had probably caught her attention.
Once they reached it Awiergan was quick to pick up a few bracelets. Well, bangles really. They were shiny and pretty and that was all the pirate cared about. "Have you seen these before?" she asked, holding them up to him in her palm.
Luca bent a bit to look at the jewelry, eyes sparkling. "I've seen things like them, but only in wrecks. They're usually briny or rusted by the time I find them." He reached out to trail a finger along the rim of one bangle. "They're beautiful."
She watched as the soft gold twinkled in the changing light and shadow while he looked them over. She felt quite proud to be able to show him such a simple treasure. "Aren't they?" Awiergan smirked and reached to place one around his wrist. "This is how we wear them." She set the other just above it so that it would fall to clink softly against the first once it was set, ignoring the odd look they were getting from the vendor.
Utterly enchanted, Luca twisted his wrist this way and that so the bangles chimed together. He smiled at her, eyes practically glowing. "It's almost like music." He clinked the bracelets together again, chuckling. "Humans can be quite clever."
"'Can' being the key there," she laughed, pleased that he liked them. Glancing over the rest of the stall's wares she picked up a simple pendant necklace. It was slight and definitely meant for a woman, but she reached to place it around his neck anyway. "We wear all sorts of things. Does your kind not...wear anything pretty? Even just for decoration?"
Smiling, he lifted the pendant and tilted it back and forth to catch the light. "Not really," he said vaguely. "Sometimes I've seen others of my kind weave shells of colorful water weeds into their hair, but nothing like this." He shrugged. "Decoration doesn't last long underwater."
"Ah." He had mentioned the rust, after all. Why would they want to carry around pretty things if they would just be ruined? "How do you keep your things nice?" she wondered, gesturing out towards the sea. "Your treasures. Do you keep them out of the water somehow?"
He nodded. "The ones that need to be, yes. There are pockets of air. And I clean them so brine doesn't collect," he explained, a little proudly.
Awiergan smiled a bit for that. "Very smart of you," she praised, gesturing at the jewelry she'd placed upon him. "Anything you want to keep or can I have those back?"
Luca puffed up a bit at her praise, then smiled and shook his head. "No. You have to trade coin for these, yes? I don't need them." He slipped the bangles and pendants off and handed them back to the vendor with a quick grin.
"So you are learning," she purred, amused at the vendor's expression once he realized they weren't going to buy anything after helping themselves. She pat at his shoulder and pointed further down the market at the few places they hadn't seen yet.
"Have you ever seen human toys before? Well they're mostly for children, of course. Some of them are quite pretty, though. Little games and things. Surely you've seen cards, right?"
He shook his head. "I think most cultures have toys," he said with a small chuckle, "but I've never seen human ones."
Then he tilted his head a bit and wrinkled his brow at her. "Cards?" He shook his head again. "I don't think I've ever heard that word. What are they?" Some sort of game, he gathered from context.
"Well, they're...tiny things. A bit more solid than parchment paper. They're painted and humans use them for all sorts of games. They have...symbols and numbers." She frowned slightly. Did he even know what those were?
"Oh." He frowned a bit, trying to picture it, then decided it was one of those things he'd probably have to see to really understand. "Shall we go see then?" he asked eagerly, head tilting and eyes shining happily.
With a hum of agreement she moved to lead him down to the stall. After explaining what they were after the vendor produced a small stack of cards from a shelf.
She carefully unwrapped the bit of twine that kept them all together and flipped over the first few to hold out to him with a proud smile. "See? Aren't they pretty?"
"Oh, yes!" he exclaimed, watching with rapt attention as she shuffled through the deck of cards. With a small laugh he added, "I think I understand why I've never seen them before though- it seems that they wouldn't hold up too well in the water."
"Yes," she winced, pinching one gently to feel its thinness. Some varieties would certainly be a bit hardier but none would last a dunk in the ocean.
"I'm sure you could make a similar game of shells," she mused, pointing out the different colors and markings on one before stacking them back up in their little bundle and handing them back to the vendor. "Use different colors and sizes maybe, if the mood ever struck you to play."
That was an interesting thought. "Perhaps," he agreed with a small smile. "You would probably have to help me with that though," he added with a chuckle. "I don't think I could remember all these symbols and numbers."
As much time as it had taken for her to warm up to him Awiergan had to admit she was quite enjoying her time with the merman. Well, only to herself of course. "I could help, but you'd have to promise to play with me, too. Not just your merfolk friends," she teased. "Only fair, you know?"
She stepped away from the stall and kept her eyes peeled for other things to show him as she padded along down the street.
Luca laughed quietly. "Of course," he said easily, moving off to follow her down the street. "Where to next?" he practically chirped, stepping up to her side and looking around curiously.
"Well... I don't know," she decided, frowning slightly as she stopped to pause and look around. Surely he wouldn't want to see any of the mundane little shops away from the market, right? She felt it was safe to assume at least. "I might be out of things to show you."
"Oh." He couldn't hide the little twinge of disappointment in his tone, but he didn't want to continue nagging her if she felt she was done showing him around. Offering a quick smile, he put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Well then, I suppose it's time I return the favor."
He glanced around, trying to orient himself and figure out where the ocean was from their current location. "Should we see if that old wives' tale is true?"
She felt a bit bad. There probably was quite a lot she could show him but certainly not in a day and not in a little town by the sea either. It was his limitation, though, and she didn't want to risk anything just to lure him further inland.
"We could, but- Don't you want to just...enjoy the atmosphere a while? If you have to return tomorrow don't you want to spend the rest of the day on land at least?" Awiergan furrowed her brow slightly and turned to look off towards the water she could see peeking between two buildings.
"I'm probably wrong," she admitted. "I just...don't know what is new to you, I suppose. Don't want you wasting your time if you won't be able to come back for a while." Maybe he would understand that better.
"If you don't mind, I'd love to spend the day on land," he said quickly, grinning at her. With a shrug, he added, "Just about everything is new to me, don't worry about wasting time." Tilting his head, he frowned a bit and added, "I just feel a little guilty to be taking up so much of your time. Surely there's something else you'd rather be doing?"
At least if he showed her his home- which she seemed so keen on seeing- he'd feel like he was repaying her, even a little.
"Not really a waste if you'll be repaying me," she pointed out. She did keep what he said in mind, though. Perhaps she'd taken the merman a little too seriously. Maybe he'd find the normal and inane fascinating.
"Have you ever seen flowers?" she asked distractedly, waving towards the colorful wild varieties that skirted one of the nicer buildings deeper into the town of Lorvale. "Or do you have those at sea, too?"
"Flowers?" He followed the gesture of her hand. "That's what those are called?" Shaking his head, still looking at them with interest, he murmured, "No, we don't have those. Well, not like that anyway. Some water plants get little buds and things that are similar but..."
He moved toward the splashes of color as his voice trailed off, intrigued.
"Ah, but these bloom," she explained, hurrying along to follow him. "They open up to the sun, see? They come in all sorts of colors and shapes and sizes. Very pretty plants."
As an afterthought she added, "Oh... Some have thorns or little spines, so be careful."
Luca discovered the thorns an instant before her warning and he jerked his hand back with a small hiss. Curiosity undaunted, he barely paused a moment before leaning over the flowers a bit.
"Very pretty," he said with a small smile, reaching out with a finger to stroke the much safer petals. He didn't even notice that he left a streak of blood across one bloom as a scent caught his attention and he sniffed curiously.
"They smell wonderful," he said in surprise, sitting back and looking at Awiergan over his shoulder.
"Oh, yes, that. They do smell nice, don't they? Smell nice and look pretty." She hummed in satisfaction for her explanation and moved to crouch beside him. "Very soft." Reaching to touch one as well she paused when she noticed the blood and looked to him with concern.
"Oh no, did you cut yourself?" she sighed, reaching to grab his hand and look him over more thoroughly. Sure enough she found the small, weeping cut.
"Did that not hurt?" she asked, narrowing her eyes curiously as she examined the severity. Blood was never a good sign but sometimes it was the smallest injuries that bled so much.
"Hm?" He blinked and looked down at the small cut on his finger. "Oh, right. Yeah, I found the thorns," he laughed softly. Shrugging, he said easily, "I've had worse. It'll stop bleeding in a minute or two."
Though merfolk didn't scar easily so his body didn't bare the signs, his curiosity had gotten him into sticky situations more than once.
"What? That's all?" Awiergan glared at his hand accusingly and shook her head. It seemed quite serious and she wasn't certain she should trust him about such a thing. What if he didn't heal as well on land? "Does it not hurt? I can clean it and wrap it for you at least, can't I?" She didn't need a man dying from infection on her watch.
Luca blinked at her in total befuddlement. "I know what those words mean individually," he said after a moment, "but in the context you just used...I have no idea what you're saying." He gave her a sheepish smile and a shrug.
He thought he might understand the concept of cleaning a wound, but he'd never actually had to do it himself. The ocean did that for him.
Awiergan rolled her eyes and sighed, shaking her head. Of course he didn't understand. At least he thought to tell her as much.
"Clean means...wipe away the blood. That dark stuff? Clear it away. Or any dirt or weird things you might have in there." She made a face at that but shook her head before continuing. "Wrap is just... A cover. It puts pressure on it. The cut, I mean. Stops the bleeding so it can heal."
"Oh." He thought for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose it makes sense to do those things on land." Her gave her an apologetic sort of look and held out his hand. "Er- could you show me?"
"Well, yes, but..." She trailed off, frowning as she tried to think of how to explain it. "I'll just take some of this." She reached out to tear off a bit of the hem from his shirt, wincing slightly at the sudden sound in their shelter of relative quiet. At least he wouldn't have a need for it soon enough, wasn't a real loss.
Taking up the end of it she carefully dabbed away the blood to soak into it instead as she scrutinized his wound. It didn't seem so bad to her, but she wasn't exactly an expert in such things. "Just a tiny cut," she murmured, wrapping it with the rest of the fabric once it was clear, tying a small knot at the top of his hand so it might not bother his other fingers so much.
"There. Any better?"
Luca watched the process with interest, then looked to her with a smile. "Yes, actually. I think the pressure relieves the discomfort, somehow." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Fascinating..."
Standing, he bent and offered her his hand. "Well then, shall we be on our way?"
She nodded, satisfied with her work so long as he was. Taking his hand she stood and looked around them, uncertain what else she could do for him. "The trouble is where," she laughed, struggling with ideas as everything still seemed so...normal, at least for her.
"Perhaps we could see some animals," she thought aloud, catching sight of the small stable beside the town's tavern.
His whole face brightened up at that idea. "Oh, yes! Let's do that," he said eagerly, fingers tightening around her hand automatically in excitement. "It will be so interesting to see other creatures without fins."
She looked down at the hand he held so tightly, feeling a little awkward as it hung limply. He didn't seem to really notice it in his excitement so she pointed out towards it and moved to cross the road.
"No fins here," she promised. "But just...be careful. They can still bite." She made an exaggerated bite and clicked her teeth together, feeling the need to warn him thoroughly after he managed to cut himself on something without a mind of its own.
A few curious pairs of ears turned toward them once they were close enough. Awiergan whistled softly and set her free hand out to the mare in the nearest stall and was quickly met with curious kisses to her palm as the horse reached over the door at her.
Luca's eyes widened. These animals were huge! He'd seen bigger of course, whales for instance, but he hadn't expected to find such creatures on land.
He wasn't exactly small in his human form, but he still felt a little dwarfed as he moved warily closer, mimicking Awiergan's movement, offering the animal an open palm. "What are they?" he asked quietly, afraid to spook the creature.
"Horses," she answered proudly, smiling as she watched the horse move over to his hand in her curious exploration. A little disgruntled that they had no treats for her, though, she eventually withdrew back into her stall and gave them her back instead.
"Humans ride them," she explained, moving to the next stall hoping another might be more interested in them. "They can go fast. Faster than a human could run at least."
"Well, they have twice as many legs as you lot," he noted, a little teasingly, as he followed after her to the next stall. "They are quite lovely, in an odd way," he mused, eyes flicking over the horse in the next stall. Their coats were well groomed and gleaming, and he could appreciate the subtle power in their builds and their large, interesting eyes.
"Odd? They're very, very common," she chuckled, reaching in to brush her hand along the neck of the dozing horse. Looking out to the other end of the little row she saw a few different animals in a small fenced area, just a couple of cows and goats with the odd chicken milling about. She assumed they were just kept for milk and eggs.
"Have you seen those before?" she asked, pointing them out.
Looking up from the attention he was giving the horse- truly a fascinating creature, what in the name of sea and stars was going on with its feet?- Luca glanced in the direction she was pointing.
"No," he answered, shaking his head. "What are they?" He started toward the pen automatically, wanting a closer look.
"Ahh." She hurried to keep up with him and leaned against the fence to point down at a small hen picking at the ground. "That with the feathers? That's a chicken. They lay eggs. Um...and we eat them. And that's a goat." She pointed to the next largest creature with her slightly curly horns.
"And that is a cow," she declared, pointing to the largest animal who seemed to lift her head to huff at them when she heard the woman speaking about her. She lumbered towards them and propped her chin atop the fence to stare up at Luca.
Nodding along with Awiergan's explanations, Luca paused and smiled at the lumbering creature. "Hello," he said, as though fully intending to hear her answer back. "You're quite large too, aren't you?"
He reached out and rubbed her nose gently, rather fascinated by the large brown eyes. "Why are they here, in a human town?" he asked curiously. "Aren't land animals...I don't know, wild?"
Awiergan laughed as the cow reached out to curl her dark tongue around his wrist, curious if the "humans" had brought her food.
"They are. Well, most are. Humans keep some for certain reasons: Meat, milk, eggs, and transport. They raise them and then...the animals forget that they're wild." Well, it was her best explanation for the phenomenon of domestication. "There are pets, too. Mostly dogs and cats," she added, uncertain if he would be familiar with those words. "They're just companions. Friends?"
"Keeping animals as companions?" He shook his head, smiling slightly. "Fascinating..." He had a feeling if his own people tried that with fish or other sea creatures it would be a rather futile endeavor.
Well, perhaps with dolphins. They were quite intelligent, may actually make good company. "Do you have any...pets?"
"No, no, it's hard to keep them when you live on the move." She shrugged, not thinking it really needed any more explanation than that even though she'd barely told him about herself at all. "Perhaps some day. If I stop doing that or find one smart enough to follow me. Do your people not..do that? At all?"
Luca shook his head. "Not that I've ever seen or heard of, though I suppose it's possible." He smiled, gave the cow's neck another pat, and turned to look at his guide. "The idea is intriguing though. Perhaps I should experiment with it when I return home."
"Well be careful. Not everything likes being...caged." She gestured at the fence separating them from the small group of animals before stepping away to move on, circling back to head even further towards the scattered outskirts of the town. Businesses seemed scarce and the buildings seemed mostly like homes but it was nice to see some trees in the distance.
"You're good at climbing, right?" Well, he'd climbed the ship easily enough. That was her only example to guide her.
She pointed out towards some of the taller trees in the distance. "Have you ever seen those? They're different than the beach trees. Different leaves. Softer."
"I can climb," Luca said with a confidence that was only half forced. He looked where she indicated and craned his neck back a bit to see the tops of the trees.
"They're taller than the ones on the beach too," he noted with interest. "And more branches- all up the sides instead of just at the top. How odd." He looked at her curiously. "Why is that?"
She shrugged. "I never thought to ask anyone who might know. Maybe they just....need more?"
Awiergan veered off the path to approach one that looked to have solid branches, reaching up to pull on one to see if it might support the weight of a human. "More...arms," she mused, bracing herself against the trunk as she carefully pulled herself up to her chosen branch.
Watching her, Luca smiled a bit. He was quite adept at using his upper body strength to maneuver- it had essentially been only his arms holding him to the side of her ship before, his tail was fairly useless for such activities.
Choosing a seemingly sturdy enough branch of his own, he pulled himself up as well, swinging his legs to either side and letting his feet dangle as he observed the world from his new vantage point. "Do humans do this to see predators coming?" he asked curiously, looking to Awiergan. They didn't have particularly good senses, so he assumed they must make up for it somehow.
"Predators?" Awiergan wrinkled her nose at that. She supposed there were predators of sorts, but mostly it was other people that were the threat. "Not exactly. Maybe to hide for hunting... Or hiding from other people. It isn't always good to be out in the open. Surely it's the same where you're from, yeah?"
He nodded. "Yes, open water can be dangerous." Sharks. Ships. Those massive creatures with their tentacles and razor beaks- though thankfully he'd never actually seen one of those awake. Even a pod of whales could prove dangerous if one didn't pay attention.
With a shrug, he looked to her and said, "Most of us stay in underwater caverns, or in reefs. Places where there's lots of hiding spots, should they be needed."
It made sense, though she wasn't exactly sure what she'd expected of his kind. She didn't think many creatures would be comfortable without some sort of shelter.
"I guess that's what human buildings are for. Homes and stuff. Shelter. Hiding. Depends on who they are, I guess. And trees are good as anything else away from towns." She laid back along the branch, mindful of its slight creaking along the thinner part. Once it didn't give way immediately she leaned her weight against it a bit more.
"Forests are like the sea. Lots of quiet. Lots of open...nothing. Just green and boring," she sighed, not realizing she hadn't mentioned what a forest was exactly or the color green.
"Forest..." Luc tilted his head, frowning a bit, as he mimicked her and leaned back on his branch. "I thought these things were called trees?"
Perhaps it was just another word for them. Although he was having a hard time equating this one tree- forest- whatever, to the vastness of the sea.
"Well all the trees together are the forest," she explained, gesturing out at the others in the distance and around them. "It's just...what we call it when things grow together like this. An open field without trees would just be that. No forest. The beach is the beach because of...its beach things: Sand and stuff, grasses and rocks. Like... Like the difference between open water and a reef I guess."
"I...see." It seemed there was certainly a lot more than "open water" and "reef" on land though. Nevertheless, he though he understood the concept and nodded slowly.
"And what do you like?" he asked curiously, shifting backwards so he could lean against the trunk of the tree. "Field, forest, beach- surely one must appeal to you more than the others."
Awiergan pondered the question in silence, just staring up at the slimmer branches above and listening to the rustling of leaves. An open field was definitely out. It meant vulnerable, it meant she could be easily spotted and had nowhere to hide, but a forest was just as dangerous. A place to take hide or take shelter could mean that anyone or anything else could also do that there.
Her life was not constantly lived in fear of being found and caught, of course, but she had plenty of enemies and would be stupid to put them above shenanigans like following her to such a remote place. The beach just felt safe. It was the line between worlds and had enough to feel like a shelter without being overly remote.
"All are good for certain things but I like the beach the best. It's the closest thing to home, I think. I have to be careful about where I go, what I do, where I stay." She shrugged, tilting her head to look over at him. "It just works."
Luca frowned, puzzled. "Why?" he asked, curiosity overriding any sense of decorum he may have developed in his time with her. "Why do you have to be so careful?"
It wasn't like it was a secret, she'd already told him she was a thief and he hadn't seemed bothered by it. "Because on land here, in the human world, I'm a criminal," she said plainly, letting one of her legs swing down alongside her branch. "That's a person who does bad things. Things that break the rules. Like the stealing? So not everywhere is safe for me."
"Oh..." He tilted his head at her and leaned toward her a bit, unconsciously. "If- if breaking the rules means you're not safe...why do you do it?" he asked slowly, struggling to understand.
Merfolk society didn't have a lot of rules, so it was rather hard to break them.
"Because... Well, there are things that I want that I don't have. And I suppose that makes me selfish." It was an odd reflection about herself but it was the truth. "Just easier to worry about myself."
Luca was still struggle with the very human concept, but he nodded slowly. "The- the stealing then. You do that because...you want things- coins?- that you don't have?"
"Yes, things I want that I don't have. Coins. Pretty stuff. Treasures. That sort of thing." Awiergan glanced up at him, wondering if he might be keen to her motives for sticking around him now.
He nodded again. "I do that," he noted mildly, looking at her with curiosity. "Do you...do what I do? Keep them all in a cave somewhere?" He was mostly joking, by now thinking he had enough information about her to assume that wasn't the case.
"Not exactly. I keep some of the smaller, more valuable things hidden around the world but nothing is ever truly safe." She shrugged and set her leg back on the branch again to switch sides. "I sell a lot of it once it loses its...newness. I suppose you just keep everything, though, right?"
"Yes, mostly." Luca shrugged, looking at her curiously. "How do you decide what to sell and what to...hide?" Was it just personal preference?
He had no real concept of items having material value.
"There's a lot that just isn't something I want. Things that aren't very...unique or eye-catching. Those are the things that I save. I just sell off anything I get bored of or has more value to me that way." She eyed him curiously. "Do your people really not have any system of...money? Value? You only collect things that are pretty or unusual?"
Luca let his head waggle from side to side. "For the most part- yes. I mean, we practice trade, but not in the way humans do, with...money. It's mostly just..." He trailed off and waved a hand airily. "If I had something that caught you're eye and you offered me something I liked in return, we'd trade. There's no specific value placed on certain items."
"A lot of humans do that, too," she commented, looking up thoughtfully for a moment. "Sometimes exclusively. I think. Every land is different. Every...country. Region, I guess. People are different all over the world. Sometimes their valuables are very different, too." She'd been to more than a few places that placed more stock in things other than precious metals and jewels or any defined system of trade and value.
"I guess you're no different. Just another...society. I'm sure you'd like some of my things, though." She smiled slightly and tried not to puff up with pride. "Too bad you probably couldn't go far enough inland to see most of it with your...limitation."
He peeked up at the thought of seeing her collection, then slumped, nodding. "You're probably right," he agreed, shrugging.
A thought struck him. "Although," he mused aloud, "Perhoas if I traveled by river systems- although I suppose that still rather limits the places I could visit."
It was certainly an idea, she'd give him that. "That could work. For some things, yes, but you're right. Not everything would be close enough." She also was beginning to question her own intelligence for even entertaining the idea of bringing her newly befriended merman to see her most prized possessions. There was something about his bright-eyed innocence and open admiration for the ways of the human world that intrigued her.
"Would it not...bother you to be in freshwater, though? Can merfolk even survive in a river?" she asked skeptically.
Luca shrugged. "Any water will allow us to survive, but the sea is best. If we're kept from it too long we start to...fade, I guess you could say." He frowned as he tried to think of how to explain. "It's not as physical as the whole "three nights" rule- that would kill me almost instantly. Fading is more...spiritual? And it takes much longer. Months, sometimes years, but it always happens."
He shrugged again and gave her a lopsided grin. "That's how the stories go, anyway. I've never actually met anyone who's tried it."
"Oh my, that's a very grim story," she sighed, laughing and shaking her head. "Have you...ever had any close calls? With the whole three nights thing? Or is it all just stories what happens?"
"Me?" His face grew a little serious, but he shook it away and said lightly, "Only once. It...wasn't pleasant. You sort of-" He cast around in an effort to find words to describe it. "It's like falling suddenly very ill, and you get weaker and weaker until you can hardly move your own body anymore..."
He trailed off, looking away. He'd been luck enough to already be on a beach when daybreak had begun to threaten his life, but it was still a rather terrifying experience.
Awiergan made a face, shuddering and shaking her head at the thought. "Guess that one's true at least, then... The others probably hold some merit. Probably best to just be careful about your old tales, huh?"
Luca chuckled quietly, nodding. "Yes, it usually is," he agreed. Looking at her with a quick grin, he added, "Which is the only reason I suggested the kiss thing to allow you to visit my home- if the old stories about exchanging fins for legs are true, why not that one?"
"Well if that one is true then we'll be seeing a lot more of each other soon," she teased. There was definitely quite a lot she'd want to explore, at least. Endless breath would definitely have its uses. "We'll see tomorrow, though. Anything else you're dying to know about?"
He gave her a crooked smile. "Everything," he told her, though with a little bit of irony this time. Shrugging, he swung down off his branch to land on the ground. "But perhaps you can show me where it is humans typically spend the night?"
He assumed it was f in caves, as he'd been doing. With a quick grin, he said, "I find a day of exploration has left me quite tired."
She watched over the side as he dropped down, somehow a little skeptical about him handling getting down without hurting himself. When he did she moved to sit up and jump down to join him. "Well in town we could stay at that inn. By the stables? With all the animals." She pointed back towards the buildings in the distance as she stepped away from their tree and back onto the road.
"We use beds. I guess you wouldn't have those where you're from, though."
Luca shook his head, following her back into the road. "No. Are those the things we slept on in the ship?" He smiled a bit. "We don't use the word "bed" to mean that- a bed is like...the ocean floor. You know, seabed."
Awiergan laughed and shook her head. "No, nothing like a seabed, and those were cots. Almost a bed, but these are more...cushioned and soft. Fluffier." She gestured as if to demonstrate that a real bed would be taller, but she figured he probably hadn't ever seen one before if he was truly so ignorant about them. "You'll see. They're much more comfortable at least."
Leading him back to town she cast a look out at the water she could see peeking between buildings before she pushed her way inside. It wasn't nearly as dark as the watering hole down the way, she thought. Securing them a room for the night was easy enough, but she'd almost gone for two. It was silly to be wasteful, though, when they hadn't had any problems the previous night in close quarters.
She gestured at the bed once they'd arrived, not really seeing anything special about it but thinking it different enough from their thin cots to mention. "There it is."
He trailed after her almost habitually at this point, observing the interior of the inn with interest and watching as she bargained for a room. He cast a quick glance around the space they'd be staying in, then crossed the room to scrutinize the be.
"I think I see what you mean," he said, poking at the mattress. It certainly looked a little different from the "cots" they'd slept on before. Experimentally, he perched on the edge.
His eyes widened slightly. "It bounces," he noted, looking up at Awiergan. He shifted his weight and the mattress bounced a bit again. An almost childish smile spread across his face and he chuckled.
Awiergan just shook her head, smiling privately as she watched him experimenting with it. "It can, yeah. Just be careful or you'll break it," she warned, waving her hand at the delicate framing. She hadn't bounced on a bed since she was a child, but she could definitely see the appeal to someone who had never seen one before.
"We can stay here for the night and then...I suppose tomorrow we'll find out how the rest of this might go," she thought aloud, crossing the room to the window to look out what she could see by moonlight.
Luca nodded, settling and propping his elbows on his knees so he could rest his chin in his hands as he arched her.
"Thank you for your help, Awiergan," he said quietly, smiling at her back. "I have to say I've learned a lot more with a guide than when I just wander about on my own."
She just shrugged, not really seeing it as such a big deal since she planned on being compensated for her time either way. Not like she would have done anything else that was much different than wandering the coastline towns anyway.
Stepping away from the window and moving to sit beside him she bumped his arm playfully. "It's worked out. Couldn't have you just wandering around like a lost puppy to tail some other poor, unsuspecting pickpocket," she teased. "Might not have been so lucky with them."
He cocked his head at her questioningly. "How do you mean?"
"Not everyone is nice. Especially to strangers that follow them," she explained simply, not wishing to go into detail about how she'd very nearly stabbed him and left him to bleed out in the street upon their first meeting.
"You were lucky you found me, that's all." Awiergan shrugged out of her coat and set it aside before gesturing to the bed they were sitting on. "Pick your side I guess."
Well, he'd known not all humans would be as accommodating as her. In fact, he supposed it was a little surprising that she'd been so kind to him, considering how they'd met.
"Oh. Alright." He shrugged and stretched out along one half of the bed. It really was quite comfortable. "I can see why humans prefer to sleep on these," he noted with a small smile, shifting his weight experimentally to feel how the mattress reacted.
She settled along the other side easily enough, her body easily welcoming the comfort of a bed once more. "They're very comfortable. Very soft," she praised, running her hand along the covers before she curled up to slip beneath them, not even bothering to undress any further.
"And this is just...sharing a bed," she clarified thoughtfully, glancing at the curious merman with a shrug as she didn't expect him to understand any difference in levels of intimacy. "Not sleeping together, just so you know."
Luca rolled over to look at her, brow furrowing a bit in confusion. "What's the difference?"
Of course he needed to know that. "Well... Sharing a bed," she gestured between them as demonstration, "Is just sharing space. Sleeping together is more...personal. Intimate? Usually just means sex."
"Sex?" That was an odd context for that word. Then realization struck him and his eyes widened. "Oh! Mating- humans call that sex?" Huh.
Then he sort of registered what he'd actually said and found his cheeks heating. "Er... Sorry. About before, I mean. I didn't-" He coughed, dropping his head.
His embarrassment made the awkwardness of explaining a little easier and she could only barely stifle a laugh as the realization dawned on him so obviously. "I didn't expect you to know, I guess that's why I'm telling you. If 'mating' is what you call it, then yes. That's what it is."
She wasn't sure why she did it but the piratess reached out to pat his shoulder in a vague gesture of comfort. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she teased.
He narrowed his eyes at her, sensing that she was making fun of him, albeit good-naturedly. "Who would believe you if you did?" he retorted with a small smirk. "I'm under the impression that humans wouldn't be so receptive to the idea that you had to explain what "sleeping together" meant to a merman."
That earned him a genuine smile and Awiergan shook her head in amused disbelief at how keen he was to that. She supposed it wasn't all that surprising, though, given how he already understood how sensitive her kind generally was to something as harmless as nudity.
"No, I'm sure they wouldn't, probably assume I'm a whore," she laughed. "So your secret's safe with me. As much for you as for myself."
He laughed softly, but she's used another word he didn't know. "A whore?" Flushing a bit, he mumbled, "Sorry, I don't know what that means either."
"Oh, dear Luca. What am I to do with you?" she teased, reaching to pat his cheek lightly before letting her tired arm fall back to the bed.
"A whore is someone who has sex for profit. Money usually. Or power. No affection in it, just a business transaction," she explained, hoping that was clear enough for him to understand. "And that's what people would assume if anyone ever heard that I even bothered to explain such a thing to you, of course."
Luca frowned. "That seems...sad," he murmured, trying to find the right words for it. Shaking his head, he rolled onto his back and looked at the ceiling.
"Mated pairs have a deep bond among my people," he murmured. "Are humans just...not like that?" It wouldn't be the strangest thing he'd learned, but somehow it struck him differently than the concept of money or pets or anything else Awiergan had taught him.
She frowned in thought, knowing it would probably be best for her to answer him honestly despite her own inexperience with such a thing.
"There are a lot of different things humans do. I suppose you would call a mated pair a married couple here. And their relationships vary, I guess. Some marry for convenience and others for love. I think love might be the same thing as that sort of bond," she explained, hoping it made sense.
"Well, yes, I would hope so." He looked at her, confused. "Humans have mated- married pairs for convenience?" He actually shuddered. Finding a mate had never exactly been high on his list of priorities, but int he back of his mind he'd supposed he'd rather assumed he'd eventually meet a female he could love.
Or at least enjoy spending time with! Mating for convenience- for money, or power... Luca frowned. "I suddenly feel as though perhaps my life in the sea has more merit than I previously would have thought.
She smiled some and shrugged. "I'm sure I paint a pretty bleak picture," she apologized. "There are plenty that stay together for love, but yes. Some marry because it just makes sense for them to, to share resources and such. Or they're told to marry someone. By family, I suppose."
Awiergan turned slightly to fluff her pillow before curling up with it. "I'm sure you're quite safe from all that, though. Most humans prefer to keep their relationships very...quiet," she said with a shrug.
"Hm." He watched her fluff the pillow and mimicked the movement before turning on his side, sprawling out instead of curling up to sleep. It was quite a relief to allow his hair to fall back, pushing it away from his ears. He hadn't even really realized he'd been so conscious of it all day until it was gone.
"You're not, then?" he asked sleepily, yawning. "The way you talk about this- you make it sound very separate. You don't have a mate, then?"
She watched through slits as his hair fell back, a small smile there to see his ear fins again. She'd almost forgotten about them in their day of wandering, but she shook her head gently at his question. "No, I don't have one. I'd pity any man who loved me," she chuckled. "I move too much and I steal too much. I could never be a wife at home all day having babies and tending house. That's what a lot of them seem to do."
Awiergan made a face at the thought and shook her head again. She'd seen more than enough unhappy husbands in her life escaping their wives with drink or with the sea to think that such a thing was even remotely a good idea for most people. Convenience was probably a more likely reason for unions than she'd let on. "Humans are silly creatures," she muttered quietly.
He smiled a bit and agreed sleepily, "Sometimes." Patting her head, he yawned and added, "But sometimes I think you lot are quite clever. And you can make such beautiful things..." He let his eyes slide closed and yawned again, starting to drift.
She smiled sleepily in agreement, nodding some. After a few moments of stillness and silence she took advantage of the rare opportunity of a bed partner and scooted closer to curl up so they might touch a bit and she could leech some body heat. With that she slept soundly, lulled easily enough by the relative peace and comfort of their rented bed.
Mostly asleep already, Luca reached out and wrapped his arm around the woman, pulling her against him. When he was in the water the cold never seemed to bother him, but he was learning that on land warmth was something he was starting to prize. Curving around her in an instinctive effort to get closer to her heat, he was fully and deeply asleep in seconds.
It was an odd sensation to wake in the arms of another. It was suffocating and heavy but yet also comfortable and warm. Very warm. Awiergan nuzzled sleepily against his shoulder, not quite aware of what exactly she was doing as it was as much to hide from the light filtering into the room as to burrow into the warmth radiating from his chest.
It seemed the past few days' excitement had caught up with him, because Lucas was in a much deeper sleep than was normal for him. He vaguely felt his new friend shifting against him, but wasn't quite awake yet. He tightened his arms around her and ducked his head against her shoulder, his unconscious mind finding the scent of her hair soothing.
Salty air, the sun, and the sea. She smelled like home.
She sighed happily for his secure and comforting hold on her, the sensation such a rare thing for the piratess that she simply thought it was a figment of a dream. Murmuring softly about nonsense she nuzzled against him again. This time to feel of the fabric of his shirt upon her cheek was enough to make her frown and peek an eye open to see what had disturbed her so.
Blinking slowly, it finally dawned on her just exactly what she was doing with whom. Yet, she didn't really mind it all that much even though it gave her quite a start. "Luca," she yawned sleepily, prodding at his ribs in an effort to rouse him. "What are you doing?" Of course she was going to accuse him of it, having no memory of how she'd snuggled up with him.
"Mmmhph," the merman muttered, drifting a little closer toward consciousness. He said something in a language that sounded more like the moaning call of a whale mixed with staccato dolphin chatter than human speech and hugged her tighter.
"Warm," he mumbled. "Strange. On land, need warmth..." Common fell away to be replaced by that strange language again.
Awiergan winced and ducked her head reactively for his strange noises. What was all that?
"Luca," she tried again more firmly as she reached up to poke at his exposed ear fin curiously, wondering if that might do a better job of getting his attention.
His ear twitched, flicking backward and forward, and his eyes shot open. "Wha-?" He blinked, jerking away from the touch to the sensitive skin instinctively.
Bleary and sleepy-eyed, he peered around. "Wass goin' on? Somethin' wrong?"
Finally! "Nothing, nothing. Well... I mean this." She gestured between them as if he should have already known such a lack of space was wrong. And yet she still kept her hand along his side where it was nice and warm.
"I didn't think a merman would be so snuggly," she teased.
"Hm?" He glanced down between them. "Oh." Smiling sheepishly, he snugged but didn't move away. "It's warmer like this, isn't it?"
"Warmer? Well yeah, it is." She didn't really have a good reason against it other than being mostly strangers to each other still. It was a human thing to seek warmth, they weren't exactly known for their ability to hold onto it on their own.
Yawning, Luca snuggled closer, paying no mind to the fact that he was actually much bigger than her as he tried to huddle into her. "Is it morning?" he mumbled sleepily. "Are we getting up?"
Awiergan settled her head back down against his shoulder. It felt odd to be so close with him. At least he wasn't trying to grope her, right? "Yeah... Morning," she sighed, squinting her eyes against the light beyond the safety of being nestled against a giant merman. "Probably should get up."
He actually pouted a bit, then sighed and rolled onto his back with a reluctant groan. "Sleepy," he muttered petulantly, throwing an arm over his eyes. "You get up first, I'm-" he yawned- "right behind you..."
He waved a hand at her airily, curling up on his side again.
She grunted, growling softly at the loss that for once wasn't her own choice. Glowering at him she gave him a gentle shove to help herself roll and sit up. Rubbing at her eyes, the grumpy pirate climbed to her feet and pulled on her coat. It wasn't an exact replacement but it would have to do.
"Come on, then," she called. "Busy day."
"Right." Groaning again, Luca rolled off the bed and staggered to his feet, stretching his arms over his head and yawning widely.
And just like that he was awake. "Okay! Where to?" He looked to Awiergan with a broad smile.
"Well... The sea, right? Or is there anything else you wanted to do before then?" she wondered, leaning to peer out the window at the street beyond. It was the same as yesterday, people milling about the market and browsing wares as they always would.
He shrugged. "Unless there is anything you need to do, I don't mind heading right for the beach." He gave her a quick, lopsided grin. "Actually, I find I'm a little anxious to be home." It was always like that the last day of a change, as his body started to miss the fins.
Awiergan nodded, casting a look back at him over her shoulder with a ghost of a smile. She had once felt that way but she didn't quite have a home to go to anymore.
"Then let's get you home," she urged him, turning to cross the room and open the door to lead him back out into the sun. "It's not so far anyway, just at the end of the street there."
"Oh, right. I think I remember." The layout of the town was simple enough, but he hadn't really been paying attention before, too distracted by all the newness. Running a hand through his hair, his ears twitched reflexively when he brushed against them and he wrinkled his nose. "Weird. They're normally not that ticklish," he muttered, more to himself than to her.
Awiergan simply let her eyes guide her back, but she glanced at him for his fidgeting with a questioning look as she caught what he'd said. "Maybe because it's your last day?" she suggested with a shrug. She didn't know any more about merfolk than he'd told her, really, but it was as good a guess as any. Old sailor tales were definitely more vague than he'd been.
"Yeah, maybe." It was entirely possible. He wasn't normally so aware of his ears as when he was around her, maybe it was just something he'd never noticed before.
As they drew closer to the water, he felt his blood start to hum with energy, almost physically pulling him forward. Quickening his pace, he urged cheerfully, "Come on, almost there!"
Surprised at his sudden burst of energy she eyed him curiously for a moment before hurrying along to keep up with him. He certainly was boy still in a few regards. "Alright, but be careful," she warned, glancing around them as they neared the docks.
She pointed out towards the open beach that curled away from the rest of the town. "Let's go down there," she urged him, grabbing his arm to tug him towards the sand.
Luca nodded, allowing her to pull him along easily. He closed his eyes from a moment and breathed in the sea air with a contented sigh. Then he snapped back to himself and hurried along the sand.
"You want to get somewhere that people won't see us, yes?" he questioned, looking at her.
"Well, yes," she answered thoughtfully, glancing to him with a curious quirk to her brow. "Would be awkward for someone to see us and think you're drowning me, right?" Truthfully she didn't know how people might react to seeing a merman at all, but she would rather assume to steer clear than find out if they were caught.
"Besides, I need somewhere to hide my things," she explained, gesturing at herself. She certainly wasn't going to drag a bunch of clothing along for a first attempt that might just fail.
"Good idea." His eyes scanned the beach. Normally this coast had a few decent little caves, or at least an appropriate collection of dunes that might to do the trick.
"What about there?" he said suddenly, pointing to an outcropping of rock that jutted into the water. "Must be some little nooks you could use there, and if we go around behind the rocks no one should see us."
The area he pointed out seemed suitable enough for their needs. "Looks good," she agreed, circling around it to quickly shuck off her coat again.
"Go on, then," she urged him, smirking knowingly and glancing out to the water as she hopped out of her boots. "I'll get the rest of this."
Luca didn't need anymore than that. Stripping quickly out of his clothes, he slipped happily into the water, shivering as the change came over him and skin was replaced with scales. He ducked his head under the water and swam a few yards away, relishing in being able to flex the muscles in his tail, before turning around and looking back to her.
"You coming?" he called cheerfully.
Awiergan easily stripped down to her shift and stuffed her belongings into a crevice among the rocks. At the sound of his voice she turned and squinted at him, not quite able to make out his tail from where she stood. "Yeah, just a moment," she answered, sweeping a few stray strands of hair behind her ears as she unstrapped her knives.
She hesitated, though, and despite how she was certain the seawater would ruin it and its sheath she left the one at her thigh securely fastened. If this worked and she went to the depths she didn't want to be left weaponless and depend upon him if things went sideways.
Shivering for a gust that rolled off the waves she was at last settled and hurried out to the water to join him. For a human she was a strong swimmer, at least, her body easily adapting from walking to wading out as the sea rose up around her. With a short, fluttering kick she was out and easily turned to look back at the higher rocks nestled against the shore.
"You have any clue how this works?" she wondered. "Above water? Below?"
"Ah..." He didn't actually know. "We could try both?" he suggested with a sheepish sort of shrug.
"Alright then," she laughed, shaking her head and moving closer. Briefly she looked down at what she could see of his tail, her hand reaching out automatically to touch along his waist where skin met golden scales.
"Come on, then," Awiergan urged, puckering her lips playfully before relaxing back to a simple smile.
Luca shivered at her touch, eyes widening. He'd never realized that where skin changed to scales was so sensitive.
Shaking his head, he blinked and muttered. "Uh, yeah. Right." A little awkwardly, he swished his tail to bring them closer together and leaned down to place a peck on her lips.
He drew back and looked her over. "Do you...feel any different?"
An odd little chill ran up her spine at the brief meeting of lips. It certainly felt like something but somehow she doubted it was exactly the sensation they'd been looking for. Frowning, Awiergan lifted her hand to touch at her bottom lip and narrowed her eyes accusingly at him. "I... Maybe? I don't know?"
Looking down at the water she dropped her hand and shrugged. There really was only one way of testing it. After taking a short, deep breath she let herself slip down and floated just below the surface. And there she stayed waiting. And waiting.
At last, though, the familiar burning sensation gripped her lungs and she frowned in disappointment. Stubbornly, though, she stayed down until she started seeing streaks of black in her vision to truly disprove that it didn't kick in at some later stage of nearly drowning. She wasn't about to test taking on any water.
With a shaky gasp she rose at last and took a few moments to compose herself before addressing him again. "Maybe- Maybe let's try the other one." It made more sense for the gift to be one of life-giving anyway rather than a premature preparation above water.
Sighing in disappointment when it didn't seem to work, Luca nodded at her. "Alright. Another try then." Determined this time, he brought his hands to either side of her face and brought his lips to hers again, letting the touch liver this time as he silently willed it to work.
Even he felt something then, a warmth in his belly the spread through his chest and arms, making his fingers tingle. A little surprised but curiosity piqued, he brushed his lips against hers again experimentally, letting one hand drift down to comb through the hair at the nape of her neck.
Awiergan returned back under with him, a little skeptical as their lips met once more until a sudden, bubbling heat swept through her. If she'd had breath at all it would have stolen it, her eyes shooting open as the light constriction around her lungs was unraveled and she felt...nothing. No pain, no struggle, no desire to breathe at all.
A little stunned, the pirate just allowed herself to float with him. The extra kiss she was much more aware of, the added tenderness of the hand at her neck enough to leave the normally cold woman a little flustered. Still, she humored his curiosity and pressed a kiss of thanks to his lips before leaning away a bit to test how she fared without being lip-locked with a merman.
Cautious hands grasped at his waist for support as she twisted this way and that, just waiting for an overwhelming panic to come that never did. As best as she could communicate, Awiergan nodded her head eagerly and smiled excitedly as if to say, "You did it!"
Luca beamed in response when it appeared to have worked. Taking her hands from his waist, he held them for a moment before letting go, giving a quick flick of his tail to send him backward through the water, putting some distance between them.
"Can you follow me?" he asked, tilting his head and gesturing for her to come after. His sinuous tail made small circles beneath his body to keep him in place, scales glinting every so often as they caught the light just right.
She nodded, moving to swim after him. It was more than a little frustrating to see how easy he had it with his tail to propel him, though. "Slow," she grumbled once she'd more or less reached him.
"Oh." He'd been moving to swim a little further away, then paused. "Um...here." He swam closer and took her hand, guiding her to wrap an arm around his shoulders. "Hold on to me, I can get us there faster," he said with a quick grin.
It was surprising how clear his voice sounded to her. She'd rarely had reason to speak underwater, but had it always been like that?
She wrapped her arm around him slowly, cautiously. She'd never had occasion to travel in such a way and she wasn't quite sure how to hold on. Eventually she also moved her other arm up to lock with the first. "How far is it?" she asked.
Luca glanced back at the coast line, judging where they were not that he was back in his home territory. "A few miles," he decided eventually. Glancing back at her over his shoulder, he gave her a crooked grin.
"You may want to wrap your legs around my waist," he suggested as he flicked his tail a few times to gather some momentum. "I can go pretty fast."
She nodded, uncertain really how to judge the distance well but trusting him easily enough. She would to have him serve as her guide or not go at all. His suggestion was met with skepticism, though. What was his definition of fast?
"Okay," she answered quietly, still surprised that there was no overwhelming urge to breathe. Hooking her legs around him she adjusted her arms as well to compensate, her head lowering to rest over his shoulder to try and keep his hair from her face as much as possible.
Feeling her get settled, Luca gave a sharp flick of his tail, then leaned forward so he was swimming parallel to the surface of the water several yards above them. Another tail stroke, and they were zipping through the water. It was strange to swim with someone clinging to him, and it took a few minutes for him to adjust his balance and strokes so they were moving easily, but eventually he managed.
He turned in an arc so they were swimming up along the coast, though he kept drifting further out to deeper waters even as he did so. "How you holding up?" he asked after a while, glancing back at her. She'd give him some sort of signal if she suddenly needed to breathe, wouldn't she?
"Okay. I think," she answered distractedly, her attention divided between the rushing, blurry sky above the surface and the swirling depths below. It seemed almost impossibly fast, though. She'd known some fish to seem quite fast but of course she'd never let a merman carry her.
"Kind of makes me dizzy," she admitted, a little disoriented in the rush around them.
"Really? Sorry, I'll slow down." He put a little less power into the strokes of his tail, still moving at a decent clip but no longer at a dizzying speed.
Giving her a lopsided grin, he asked playfully, "Any questions? You've shown me your world- what do you think of mine?" He gestured to the water around them; schools of fish wove by in silver blurs, and below them different types of water weeds swayed gently in the passing currents.
Once her head stopped spinning it was much easier to take in the beauty of it aside from simple light and dark. Looking down below them there were a few things she recognized, but truthfully she had rarely done much exploratory diving in her life to know as well as he probably did. "It's very dark," she decided, though her eyes were slowly adjusting to let her see more despite it.
"Is it always this quiet?" she asked. On land there was always something to keep her company. It was rare to be truly alone with the sounds of birds and other animals around, let alone the bustle of a town or city. Even though they were far from alone it felt deafeningly quiet besides his voice and the bubbling rush of water around them.
"Usually," Luca answered, diving a little deeper to drag his fingers through the drifting seaweeds. the dorsal fin along his tail flexed, flipping up and then relaxing back against his scales as he sharply changed direction.
"I wish I could show you clearer waters," he mused. "Maybe a coral reef. There are some truly beautiful things in the oceans most people don't get to see."
Awiergan watched him with interest, carefully lowering one leg to drag against the sea plants. Something about the way they felt against bare skin made her shiver, though, and she quickly snatched her leg back up to cage around his waist.
"Why can't you?" she wondered, assuming it might have had something to do with some odd territory rule among merfolk. "Is it too far away?"
He shrugged. "Yes. And I'm still not sure how long this kiss thing will last. Don't want to accidentally drown you." It was meant to be a joke, but the thought of it made him frown and he reached up absently to touch one of her wrists, twisting his head to look at her with concern.
"You will tell me if you start needing air, right? Tap my shoulder, pull my hair- do something so I know I need to surface."
He made a good point, one that left her wondering about it herself. She'd assumed she'd be safe at least until they surfaced and she breathed again. Now, though, she wondered if such a thing actually had some sort of time limit. "I'd tell you," she agreed. "Somehow, I think. I feel fine right now, though... Thank you for this. Hope I can last long enough to see it."
"Of course." He gave her a bright smile. "I'm happy to return the kindness you've shown me."
A soft clicking and squeaking sound drifted through the water and he tilted his head, listening, ears flicking in opposite directions to catch the noises. "Hear that?" he asked, wondering if human ears could pick up sounds the same way underwater.
She seemed to have no trouble hearing him speak, so he assumed so.
It was much more muffled to her human ears but she definitely heard something. Twisting her head this way and that to look around them she didn't notice anything unusual at first. "Should we...hide? Is that dangerous?" she asked skeptically.
Luca laughed, shaking his head. His hair fanned out in the water around them. "No, not unless you annoy them." Without further explanation, he made a few squeaking, clicking sounds of his own.
After a moment of silence, the noises picked up again as though in answer, coming closer. "There." He pointed to the water ahead of them, where his eyes, at least, could make out a group of darkish shapes swimming toward them. "Do you see?"
The pod of dolphins swam right up to them, circling around them curiously, chattering to each other all the while. Merfolk they knew, but what was the strange fish clinging to his back?
She startled slightly at the sounds he made, thinking them fairly similar to the odd noises she'd heard earlier in the morning. The answering echos sent a shiver down her spine and a pang of fear gripped her belly until the creatures finally came into view.
She recognized them. Well, perhaps not them exactly but definitely the animal. She'd seen them at sea before and in the bays along the coastline. They seemed so much bigger up close, though, and involuntarily Awiergan found herself hunkering down flat against his back in a pathetic attempt at hiding. "Big fish..." No, they had a name she was struggling to recall. "Porpoise?"
"Dolphin," Luca corrected with a chuckle, looking over his shoulder at her. Seeing she looked nervous, he frowned slightly and bit his lip. "Oh..." Wriggling around, he gently pried her legs from his waist so he could turn to face her, wrapping one arm around her middle to hold her against his chest while he kept them in place with lazy swishes of his tail.
"They're not going to hurt you," he assured her, holding his free hand out to one of the creatures. Smiling when the animal swam forward to butt her nose against his palm, he glanced down at Awiergan and added cheerfully, "They're more like you than me, really. They're not actually fish. They breathe water, and they birth their babies and nurse them."
One of the smaller dolphins, barely more than a calf, swam a spiraling sort of circle around them before flipping upside down to view the woman from a new angle.
At the pressure she easily untangled her legs from around him, though she still kept herself glued to him despite his assurances.
With a curious tilt to her head she watched the animal's affections with him and watched the little one circling around them. A cautious hand reached out to pet along the animal's jaw, her eyes widening in surprise at how smooth its skin was.
"They're pretty," she marveled, smiling as she lifted her head away from him some to look at the adults. "Are they your friends?"
He grinned, pleased that she seemed more at ease. "Not exactly. I've never met this pod before, but they're friendly and curious creatures by nature." The littlest dolphin bumped his nose into her shoulder and he laughed. "As you can see."
The light pressure surprised her but she took it as her cue to bestow the dolphin with more petting. "They aren't afraid of me just...biting them or something? Seems dangerous to be that curious," she mused, not realizing that they might have trusted her a bit more for being in his company.
"So do you- Can you speak with them? Is that what that was?"
"Oh, they'd probably be more wary of you weren't with me," he told her with a shrug. A quick smile, and he gave a waggling sort of nod. "A little. I can't carry on in depth conversations with them, but I can communicate basic thoughts and ideas. You know, like safety, curiosity, friendship, danger, maybe a location. That sort of thing."
It certainly wasn't what she would have expected, but she supposed it made a little sense for creatures of the sea to not be completely helpless in communicating with each other. "What else can you talk with? Fish? Anything?"
He pulled a face, switching the arm he had around her waist to give himself a break. "Fish are too stupid to speak," he said bluntly with a dry chuckle. Perking up a bit, he said, "Whales sing though. Again, it's not like we'll ever discuss philosophy, but I can get general ideas from their calls, and they can understand me the same way."
She nodded, glancing down at the way he supported her and then to the dolphins around them one more time. With a little parting pat to the youngster she gestured out towards deeper waters. "Shouldn't we be going? Breath and all?" she reminded him playfully, reaching her hands up to rein in his hair that had fanned out around them.
Luca grinned. "Right." A final click to the dolphins and he shifted his hold on Awiergan so he was holding her against his chest with one arm under her knees and the other behind her back and he set off again, tail moving in quick, powerful strokes.
He was starting to spot familiar "landmarks" on the seafloor below them. "We're getting close," he murmured, unconsciously speeding up a bit.
She frowned for the way that he chose to hold her, opening her mouth to protest but quickly shutting it against the rushing water in her surprise. Looking around him, she watched the dolphin pod falling back into their formation before fading away in the distance.
Wrapping her arms around his neck instead her eyes flickered to take in their surroundings with a puzzled look. "To the caves?" she asked, not seeing anything that looked too promising with her limited eyesight.
"Mhm." He nodded and shifted his hold on her so he could point out the way sand was changing to rock below them. "See that? The entrance to the caverns is just up ahead."
He hesitated a moment, then offered, "Do you want to try to swim the rest of the way yourself?" They were close enough now that he didn't think it would be too strenuous for her.
Focusing her gaze on where he pointed she was eventually able to make out the change in the ocean floor, though it seemed a bit murky to her. "I can swim," she agreed eagerly, desperate to be down and not depend upon him any more than she'd needed to for speed.
"Just...please lead me," she reminded him, releasing her arms from around his neck and kicking out once she was free to angle herself down towards the bottom. The only thing really bothering her was the change in pressure for such a deep dive but she thought she'd be okay since it didn't seem much further.
"Of course," Luca said with a quick grin, slowing his pace to match her as he drifted toward the bottom himself. The sand curved gently up in small ripples over the stone, and he followed the direction of the current for a while.
Soon enough, what at first appeared to be a rocky outcropping jutting from the seafloor proved to be the entrance to an underwater cave. "Here," the merman said, glancing over at his companion. He offered a hand and said with a small smile, "It's rather dark for the first bit. You may want to hold on to me."
Awiergan was quite proud that she'd managed to make it that far even if it was under his watchful eye. She looked between him and the rocks and nodded, making no fuss about joining their hands. If it was already so dark she could only imagine how it might be in a place surrounded on all sides.
"Is there any light inside?" she asked, suddenly a little anxious to deprive herself of sight just for a glimpse at his collection. The whole idea was beginning to feel a little silly to her upon further reflection. How had she ever thought she might manage to steal from him when she didn't even have a hope of outswimming him? Let alone doing so more or less blind.
Luca nodded, smiling at her reassuringly as he began to lead her into the caverns. "Yes. There's places where the caverns are half in and half out of the water, lots of holes in the tops there."
Seeing that she looked a little nervous, he paused just as they were entering the gloom of the cave. "Do you want to turn back?" he asked softly, not wanting to force her to go further if she was uncomfortable with the idea.
"No, no," she answered hurriedly, shaking her head forcefully. "I want to go. Just... I don't like swimming in the dark." It was a silly fear being so attuned to the sea herself. She'd spent countless hours of her life aboard ships at night so swimming shouldn't have been any different.
Awiergan squeezed his hand as best as she could and moved forward again with a sense of purpose this time. "I'm sure I'll be okay."
He smiled softly, trying to appear as reassuring as he could. "It's alright. There's nothing dangerous in here, I promise." He would know if there was. "Just a lot of fish and rocks. Come on."
Keeping his pace fairly slow for her, he swam into the caverns. Even his eyes couldn't make out much in the gloom, just the general shape of the rocks around them and the occasional shadow of fish swimming by.
"Just a bit further, then there's a gap in the rocks up ahead," he said after a few moments, giving her hand a light squeeze.
She kept close to him, or as close as she felt comfortable without impeding his tail. Every little brush of fish or bubbles against her skin had her startling, though, her sense of touch quite heightened in the relative quiet and blackness of the cavern.
She tried not to think of what might happen if his gift of breath wore off before they reached an area with an air bubble. The magic was so untested but she hoped to could at least depend on it, preferably until they reached their destination at least.
Once she adjusted to the surroundings of the tunnel ahead she perked up at the sight of a faint light. She pointed at it and turned to look up at Luca. "Please tell me you see that too."
Laughing, Luca nodded and tugged her forward, forgetting himself for a moment and simply towing her through the water with a few powerful strokes. The rock above them steadily opened, a narrow crack turning into a wide fissure in the ceiling.
He paused in a filtered beam of sunlight, tilting his head at her with a small smile and asked with a flash of concern, "Do you want to take a breather?" He wasn't quite sure how her human body was holding up to swimming this distance.
Allowing herself to be pulled along instead of kicking in vain Awiergan stared up at the shaft of light, squinting slightly for it after so much darkness. Despite the concern she detected on his face, though, she shook her head firmly. She didn't want to stop.
"I don't want to get stuck somewhere," she admitted. "I'll rest once we get there, don't worry." Truthfully her muscles were feeling a little fatigued, but she didn't want to give him any reason to worry so long as she didn't feel the crushing desperation the need for breath would have brought on.
"Right." A quick grin and he set off again. The light was pretty consistent from there on, holes and cracks that varied in size filtering sunlight down through the water.
Eventually, the tunnel they were swimming through opened up into a wide cavern, the floor of which sloped gradually up until it broke the surface of the water. The roof of the cave arched far above that, so the floor actually formed a little island if one was looking at it from the surface.
And just about every inch of it was covered in Luca's collection: coins, baubles, assorted trinkets, entire chests, and pieces of wreckage all strewn about with no particular order, both above the water and below.
"Here we are," he said cheerfully, turning to Awiergan with a bright smile.
A sudden sense of urgency rushed through her once their destination came into view. She wasn't quite sure if it was the excitement of it being real or an actual need for air that propelled her, but Awiergan released his hand quickly and rose up to break the surface at last. After a few sputtering coughs she was breathing again as though nothing had happened at all and she found herself staring down at her chest accusingly despite the endless treasures and artifacts before her.
Once she'd determined she wasn't about to collapse or have any other strange, sudden side effects from resuming the act of breathing she finally lifted her head and waded further into the shallows. Carefully picking her way around things she finally rose up to stand on the floor of the cave and turned this way and that to take in the sights of his collection. She noted how a great deal of it glimmered and twinkled in the peeking sunlight.
After quite a long time of silence she at last turned to him with a bright, if slightly hungry smile. "This is amazing," she praised, suddenly completely unfocused as her hands reached to run over the treasures before her. There were all sorts of things and she had no idea where to even start as she crouched down to look things over with genuine curiosity. Her hands finally settled upon a worn compass and locket that rested near each other. Lifting them to her face to scrutinize she discovered that the locket was empty and the compass needle still turned. "Where did you get these?" she murmured in awe.
Beaming with pride, Luca swam over to boost himself a little out of the water, arms folded on top of a rickety old chest that was perched half in and half out of the water while his tail swished lazily behind him.
"Those?" He tilted his head at what she held, trying to remember. "Hm... Oh, a shipwreck! There was a big storm- I actually hid out in here for most of it- and when it blew over I just sort of stumbled across what was left of the ship." He shrugged, then frowned a bit.
"Lots of dead humans. That part was said. And a little gross. But also things like that." He gestured to the locket and compass she held. Eyes sparkling, he chirped, "You like it then?"
Her face fell slightly to hear their actual source. She wasn't sure exactly what she'd expected, but now she was left imagining the possibility of the merman prying personal effects off the recently deceased. After a moment she hummed and looked to him with a smile of praise. "Of course I do, they're lovely. A little old, but very pretty."
She wondered if she manage to slip away with something as small as the locket without him noticing. It didn't even occur to her that she might have better luck just asking politely and seeing if there was a chance he would just let her take it. For now, though, she placed them back down to rummage through more of what covered the floor, wandering closer to him as she did so. "Do you have a favorite?" she asked distractedly.
Luca considered that for a long moment. "You know...I do, actually," he said quietly. "Wait right there."
Boosting himself out of the water, he waited a few moments for his tail to change into legs before climbing to his feet, swaying a bit as he reoriented himself to a human body. Paying no heed to the fact that he was naked, he moved easily across the little island to a collection of items in the center that had somehow managed to stay entirely dry.
He picked a small box up and returned to Awiergan, holding it out to her with a bright grin and flipping the catch on the lid. The box opened, and a tinkling little melody jangled through the air of the cavern.
"It was half buried in the sand," he said happily over the music. "I didn't know it could make sound, but I thought it was pretty so I brought it back here. I was playing around with it when I found all the little shiny pieces on the inside. I must have moved something the right way, because then it started doing this." He gestured to the music box with a happy little grin.
Watching him curiously her eyes widened when the sudden song rang out to echo around the cave. She smiled kindly and reached out to trace her fingers along the edge of the box he'd brought to her. "I've heard this before," she said in amazement, the slightly disjointed melody of a common lullaby clear enough to her human ears. "Is that the only one it plays?"
"You have?" He tilted his head and his eyes widened, shining with delight. Shrugging, he replied, "It's the only one I've ever hear it play, but it only plays snippets of it. Do you know the whole thing?"
Realizing he was getting too eager again, he flushed a bit and dropped his eyes. "Oh. Um, sorry. Here." He held the box out to her with a grin. "Take a closer look, maybe you can figure out something I couldn't."
"Yeah, I think so." She nodded and took the box carefully in her hands, shivering slightly for the cold as she was finally feeling the bite of her single piece of air-chilled clothing.
"It's a human lullaby," Awiergan murmured, tilting the box from one side to the other and wincing as the music warped slightly for the movement. She felt all along the edges until a small ridge gave way to her hand and she was able to open up the interior of the box.
Squinting at it accusingly, she tried to determine the problem. Music from such things she'd definitely heard but she was utterly clueless as to how they worked. "Give me a moment," she mumbled, reaching in to poke and prod at the turning pieces until a rattling sound from a loose part tripped the song again.
"I think this one..." She stopped the music so she could refit the loose end to the rest before winding it up to the start. When she released it and closed the inside up again she smiled proudly and held it back out to him as the song played anew with a stronger, clearer sound.
The new sound produced by the box made his eyes widen and a smile practically split his face in two. "That's wonderful!" he laughed delightedly, taking the box back from her and holding it delicately against his chest.
Looking up at Awiergan, still beaming, he exclaimed, "Thank you!"
Awiergan could only smile, his genuine happiness and gratefulness quite infectious as she turned to look away as if that might hide the warmth rising from her chest. "Yeah... Just a box, don't worry about it," she chuckled.
"But it's not," he protested, carefully tucking the music box into a pile of his little "treasures". Without thinking, he moved forward and threw his arms around her in an exuberant hug.
"Thank you," he said again, still grinning, his joy almost childlike.
"Okay, fine. A musical box," she laughed, shaking her head. The hug was startling, like a giant man-child scooping her up. She humored him easily enough, wrapping her arms around him with a few gentle pats. It was an odd feeling for her to be the recipient of genuine gratefulness and she felt a little guilty and awkward for it. Of all things she didn't deserve his thanks for something that took her only a minute or two to sort out.
"You're...welcome," she finally muttered. "Anything else I can try to fix while I'm here?"
"Hm? Oh, no that's alright." Luca let her go and stepped back, his smile finally starting to fade a little bit, but only because his cheeks were starting to hurt. With a shrug, he gestured to the piles around them and said, "I mean, if something catches your eye as being obviously broken go right ahead, but I'm content with the way things are."
She chuckled, shaking her head and moving to step around him to resume her search for more interesting things among his collection. "That's fine, I won't beg to work," she teased, looking over a few metal plates that appeared to be from a set. Putting them aside she moved deeper into the cave toward a particularly large column of light from the ceiling, the sparkle of a few gemstones catching her eye that peeked out from a small chest.
Opening it carefully she drew out the chain, definitely a necklace or some other decorative adornment. The color was a bit clouded and the chain they were woven into had a few missing pieces, but overall it was a pretty piece. "You have so many different things," she admired quietly, her eyes flickering to a pile of coins.
Watching her look around, Luca slipped back into the water and settled himself where the little island in the center of the cave started to dip into the water so his tail was beneath the surface and his upper body was in the dry air.
"Do you like that?" he asked, tilting his head as she pulled out a certain piece. Wanting to repay the kindness she'd shown him, he offered with a smile, "You can have it if you want."
"What? No. I couldn't," she insisted, perhaps a little too eagerly as she quickly set it back down as if it had burned her. Wandering closer to him, though, she found her eyes lingering on the little locket she'd first noticed. "I don't want to take any of your things. They're yours. I was just looking."
He tilted his head at her. "The coins you were taking when we first met were someone else's things," he pointed out innocently, absolutely no accusation in his tone. "It didn't bother you then." He flashed a quick smile and added, "Besides, I want you to take something. I want you to have something that makes you happy, as a thank you."
"Well... That was different. That was-" There probably wasn't a good reason to fumble over an explanation for that, so she just stopped.
Looking around like she wasn't sure already of what she wanted she gave a helpless little shrug and reached to pluck up the small metal chain again to hold out to him. "If you must, maybe this?"
"Sure!" Luca flashed her a bright grin and a shrug. "There's lots of things like it around here. It'll probably do you more good than it does me." Head tilting to the side slightly, he asked, "Is that all you want?"
One trinket for almost three full days of babysitting him. That hardly seemed fair.
Just like that? She glanced around at the rest of his things and shrugged. "You did say you could give me some of the coins, too," she reminded, eyeing him warily to try and judge if she was being too greedy. "I'd be happy to show you more in exchange for them."
He perked up a bit at that, but just gave her a shrug and another innocent smile. "I'd never turn down the chance to see more of your world," he said easily, "but you can take the coins without that being a requirement." Chuckling, he added, "As you can see, there's quite a few of them lying around. I'm hardly going to miss a few handfuls."
"Well, if I take them might as well apply them to something," she mumbled, uncertain what to do with a merman who seemed so genuinely curious and yet didn't seem to care that she wanted to take things from his collection in exchange. She'd expected a bit more tension about it even though it had been his own suggestion. Perhaps that would come once he figured out she truly wanted all of it, at least the coin and valuable stuff.
"How long has this all been here?" she asked, looking around them again.
Luca shrugged, looking around in turn. "Well, it sort of depends. I started collecting things when I was very young, so some of it's been here for..." He trailed off, thinking. "Ten years? Maybe longer? But then some of it's only been here a few weeks."
"Really? That long? Well you've taken pretty good care of it," she praised with a small smile. "Do you ever get rid of anything? To make room for newer things?" Moving across to a relatively small pile of coins just barely submerged in the water Awiergan stooped to pick up a few before remembering she had nowhere to put them.
He shook his head. "Not really, no. There's plenty of space in here," he said with a quick grin, watching her movements with interest.
"Well for now. Some day you'll run out," she teased lightly. Awiergan gave a shrug and let the coins fall to plunk back into the water one by one. "Could probably just...get another one of these places, though. Cave or shelter somewhere."
It was then she realized she may have just trapped herself in. What if his magic didn't work a second time? Frowning in thought, she ducked her head through the chain of the locket and returned to her rummaging without speaking of it.
Luca shrugged. "Maybe someday," he said easily, pushing away from the little island to circle back in the water, floating aimlessly on his back.
"Find what you're looking for?" he asked casually, flicking the tip of his tail to arc little droplets into the air and watching them fall back down.
"No. Well, not looking for anything in particular," she muttered, her eyes sweeping over the treasures and assorted junk to take stock of it all.
"Could I....take one of these back?" she finally asked, pointing at a small chest that she knew would be horribly awkward to drag back. Vaguely she added, "With some stuff?"
He arched an eyebrow, looking where she pointed, and shrugged. "Don't see why not," he said easily, flipping over to swim back toward her. Brow furrowing, he mused, "It might be a little awkward to carry all the way back to shore, though."
Honestly he didn't quite understand why she would want a chest- there were so many other, shinier things to choose from- but he accepted it as maybe an odd human quirk.
"Yeah, I was thinking that, too," she admitted. She was certainly willing to try, though.
Picking her way over to it, she opened the box and removed most of its contents before dragging it over and into the water to start scooping coins into it. "Thank you," she finally offered, feeling a little awkward for it as she wasn't used to be genuinely thankful very often. At least she'd gotten over her weirdness about asking and managed that, but she wasn't sure how to properly negotiate the rest of what she wanted with him.
"I really insist, let's just call this...payment. For teaching you. You know, about human stuff. And...you can keep visiting me to learn more. Just don't be annoying."
"I can?" His face brightened up and his tail gave an unconscious little flick in excitement. "Thank you!" Chuckling a little wryly, he added, "I'll do my best not to make a nuisance of myself."
She nodded, watching his tail with fascination for a moment. "You aren't being one now. And you weren't before, just- A warning, I guess?" Awiergan shivered and continued loading up the chest, probably already well past the point of being comfortable to tow along in the water.
"There are things I won't be able to teach you. I'm not a very decent human so there's a lot of places I wouldn't be trusted," she explained, glancing up at him. "I'll show you what I can, though. Probably plenty to keep you entertained at least. There's a lot even I don't know, though, so don't expect a full education on the world. Got it?"
Frowning, Luca nodded along as she talked, but he found himself latching onto one thing in particular that she said. "I think you're more than decent," he murmured, drifting a little closer.
Awiergan paused, smiling some but shaking her head. "I'm really not. If you knew me you'd understand. Well, knew me better, I guess."
He opened his mouth to argue, then paused. It seemed like she probably wouldn't really listen to anything he might say- he may just make her irritated.
He cast around for a way to change the subject and his eyes flickered to one of the holes in the cave ceiling. "It's getting late," he noted, seeing that the angle of the sunlight had changed. Mid afternoon, probably.
At his prompting Awiergan lifted her head sharply to look up at the ceiling. She sighed and shook her head, glancing around the cave for anything else she might want to take. Despite his excitement at the prospect she really had no way of knowing for sure when she'd see him again if at all. Probably best to take what she wanted while she had the chance.
"I guess I'll get out of your hair," she teased, closing up the chest once she'd laid a final few odds and ends atop her pile of coins. She didn't think it would lock so noted that she probably needed to keep it upright.
Dragging it into deeper water, she looked to him a little anxiously. "Let's hope this works a second time, huh?"
Luca frowned. He hadn't considered that a kiss might only work once. "Here." He swam closer, giving a few stronger swished with his tail to propel himself further out of the water and offer his hand. "If it doesn't work, we'll...we'll just have to figure something else out."
"If it doesn't work I'll probably be stranded here and die," she pointed out. It was part of the risk she'd been taking to play with unknown magic. She took his hand up easily enough, giving it a quick squeeze as she set the chest against her hip to hold awkwardly with her other arm.
"I'll let you know if it stops working," she promised, taking a few deep breaths out of habit anyway before she dipped under the surface.
His grip on her hand tightened. He didn't say anything, but he made a silent promise that even if the strange magic stopped working, he wouldn't let anything happen to her.
Still holding her hand, he sank under the surface as well, searching her face with concern.
She watched him expectantly, uncertain what the emotion on his face was that left her feeling so unsettled and frankly a little bit guilty. It didn't get any better once her eyes had adjusted to the water.
Glancing to his tail she gave the hand joined with hers a light tug. Leaning in to hover her face before his own, she tried to ignore the slight tightness in her chest.
Jolting back to himself, Luca sort of lurched forward and pressed his lips to hers, wincing internally. Focus, he needed to focus.
Maybe something of his distracted desperation translated through the kiss, because he suddenly found himself gripping her waist and pulling her tight against his chest.
The pulling caught her off guard, leaving her to balance the chest a bit better in a moment of distraction. Soon, though, the familiar warmth swept through her, humming out across her skin and making her quite aware of how close they were. Somehow it was a little different than the first time, though, less experimental and more of a genuine glow.
She smiled into the kiss with relief and her one free hand rose up to brace against his side. After a few moments more she felt the last of it coming together, the creeping need for air retreating entirely. She was a bit puzzled to notice, though, that a slight fluttering sensation nestled in her belly instead.
He wasn't sure how long this kiss should last- the first one hadn't seemed to need more than a few moments to take effect, but she wasn't pulling away. Perhaps this time was different?
A little worried, he debated between letting her go or kissing her again. Deciding she'd be struggling more if she needed air, he tilted his head to deepen the contact slightly, one hand sliding around to press against the small of her back.
She hadn't even noticed how she'd been drawing it out until he shifted against her. With a slight start Awiergan leaned away at last to break the kiss, her hand moving up to set against his chest instead as a slight barrier between them.
Staring at him she just waited for something bad to happen. Pain or dizziness, but nothing came. The warmth and slight buzz remained, but she dismissed it as a simple side effect of his magic.
A kind smile finally touched her lips and the pirate leaned in closer to brush a quick peck of thanks to his cheek, remembering how he'd gone for a second kiss the first time they'd tried it. She'd write it off as a completion of the ritual.
Turning slightly to look out towards the narrower space they'd come through before, she nodded and spoke at last, "I think it's safe."
For a moment Luca blinked, a little dazed. Then he shook his head, floating hair fanning out around him in an even wilder cloud, and forced himself to focus.
"Good," he said with a bright smile, giving a small flick of his tail to start off down the underwater passage. Then he paused, looking back at her over his shoulder. "Do you want to swim on your own, or..." He made a vague gesture to himself, indicating he could carry her again to move them along faster.
Looking down to the chest she gave it a gentle shake before deciding it and herself probably would have been too heavy and awkward to take through the narrow space. "I'll swim," she promised, kicking gently to follow after him. Turning over, she support the chest with both hands instead and let it drag beneath her. It was a bit awkward and required a good bit of adjustment every now and then, but she was proud to notice that she was making steady progress at a snail's pace.
He let her paddle along on her own for a while, constantly checking his pace or circling back to stay with her. But when the water started to darken around them he shook his head and muttered, "This isn't going to work."
Flipping over Awiergan to float just behind her, he suggested, "Why don't you hold that to your chest, get a good grip on it, and I can sort of guide you along the rest of the way?" His hands settled a little hesitantly at her waist. "At least until we're out of the caverns."
She'd been quite pleased with herself still but understood the logic of what he was asking. "As long as you don't mind, I thought that might be too awkward and make things difficult on you," she admitted, looking to him over her shoulder. She had to squint a bit more in the dimming light but could still make him out thanks to the shimmer of his scales.
Lifting the chest up, though, she wrapped it in a bear hug instead to hold firmly against herself. "Thank you, Luca," she mumbled, appreciative that he was taking the time to guide her at all when he surely could have been out of the cavern in a flash.
"Of course," he responded brightly. "Just relax, I'll have us out of here in no time." Using his tail to propel them through the water was a little strange with the way he was holding her in front of him, but he got used to it the way he'd gotten used to carrying her on his back.
It only took a few minutes for them to reach the mouth of the caver and he slowly pulled his hands away, circling around to her front. "Not so bad, right?"
Once they'd reached the open sea again she looked around to orient herself and repositioned the heavy chest in her grasp. "No, much faster with you," she praised, shooting him a grateful smile before she arched toward the surface and propelled herself up with some lazy kicks.
She was careful not to breach the surface, though, nervous for what might happen if she broke his magic any sooner than necessary. "Uh... Do you know which way?" Awiergan asked once she realized that she was essentially lost without his help.
"Sure I do." He beamed and followed her to just below the surface of the water. A bit of a frown stole over his face and he murmured, "It's a bit of a swim to get you back to your clothes though..."
A thought suddenly struck him and he perked up. "Hey, you liked the dolphins, right? How would you feel if I tried to call them back?" There was a chance the pod was still in the area.
The dolphins? "I...guess so?" She wasn't sure exactly what he had in mind but was willing to entertain it. "What would they do?"
"Well, if you let me carry the chest," Luca started to explain, "the dolphins could tow you along. At least until we got closer to shore." He gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, it just might be kind of awkward to try to carry you and the chest at the same time."
She relaxed with realization, nodding and looking around them but not spotting the creatures with her own eyes. She assumed they were fairly far, probably only reached by his call as he'd suggested.
"If they don't mind the work," she finally agreed, holding out the chest to him cautiously.
"I'm sure they won't," Luca said quickly, taking the chest from her. Twisting his head, he gave a few sharp calls in dolphin chatter, then fell silent.
Nothing happened for a few long moments.
"Er...give it a minute." Still nothing. Then, finally, he made out the shape of the dolphin family moving toward them. Squeaks and clicks started to echo through the water as they swam closer and offered a friendly greeting.
The little calf made straight for his companion, flipping excitedly when he recognized her.
Awiergan tread water while they waited, a little dismayed and about to suggest they just move along without them when they finally appeared. She was surprised by the affection of the youngster, a bright, genuine smile lighting up her face to see him so eager to greet her.
"Why does he like me?" she laughed, reaching out to pet along his back before giving him a few gentle chin rubs as she would have for a dog on land.
Luca grinned as he watched her. "Think of him like a human child," he responded. "He's never seen anything like you before- once I told them you were friendly, any fear he may have had was replaced with curiosity."
A larger male swam up to the merman's side with a few clicks and he stroked along his flank. "Come here," he called, beckoning her forward while he shifted the chest to one arm. "This one will take you, says he's the strongest."
It seemed a little unfair to her, that he could just be told to trust someone like her and just do it without questioning it. He'd said fish were too stupid to speak so she wondered how smart he thought the dolphins were compared to them.
At his call, though, she gave the calf a final pet before swimming over to join him. Nodding, she ran a careful hand along the animal's side as she reached up to grab onto his dorsal fin. "You'll swim with them, right? ...Have them stop if it's too much," she warned him, frowning some though her eyes twinkled with curiosity. "I can take the slow way if I need to."
"Oh trust me, they'll let you know themselves," he laughed. With a quick grin, he shifted his hold on the chest again and set off, the pod taking a moment to follow him.
Once they did though, they sort of enveloped him into the group. The calf's mother came up on Awiergan's other side so the little one could swim beside her. The water filled with the echoing calls of dolphin chatter as they happily zipped along.
She never would have imagined travel by dolphin, but there she was. It was surprisingly easy to keep hold of the bull's fin as he towed her through the water and it left her relaxed enough to take in the view once more as they arced toward the coast.
Watching the youngster with interest she felt brave enough to release one of her hands to reach out to him. He immediately gave a shrill little squeal and shot off in a sharp corkscrew ahead of her before settling back to swim at her side. She could only laugh in a moment of pure delight, the sound quite muffled underwater but genuine nonetheless. "I didn't know they could be so playful," she admired.
Luca grinned as he watched her interact with the dolphins. "It's in their nature," he chuckled, smile turning crooked as one of the animals butted him with her nose then sped away before looping back to swim behind him.
"Do you have land animals like them?" he asked curiously. He paused a moment, then amended, "I mean, the friendliness, the playful nature. I doubt you have animals that look like them."
It was something she knew the immediate answer to. "Yeah! They're so much like dogs, it's kind of scary," she laughed. "Okay, not scary. Just...they're so similar, it's very sweet. Little sea dogs." She pat along the bull's back before settling her hand around his fin again.
"Guess big sea dogs, but maybe I could show you," she mused. Strays were common, but she wasn't sure how receptive they might be to an obvious non-human. Dogs seemed to sense things, and she had a hunch that they might be frightened at first on instinct. "Maybe a puppy. Um, a baby dog. They're usually a little more playful."
He gave her an almost wistful little smile. "That would be nice." It was still hard for him to understand how she couldn't think of herself as a decent person. He'd seen her stealing, which he supposed wasn't exactly nice, but nothing else she'd done around him had seemed to be anything but kind, at least to him.
They were drawing closer to the coast and the dolphins began to slow, chattering at him. Luca gradually came to a stop and the pod clustered around him. "They don't want to get much closer to land, too close to humans," he told Awiergan.
"Oh, of course." She smiled gratefully, though she was uncertain if the sea creatures could even read human emotion through expression alone. Releasing him, she ran her hand along each of the animals that was near enough for her. She gave a bit of extra attention to the calf who seemed quite eager to be close to her before kicking away to join Luca at his side.
"Could you tell them that I say 'thank you'?" Her head tilted to look down at the ocean floor. Definitely closer to shore than before. Thinking he wouldn't want the burden anymore she held out her hands for the chest.
Luca nodded, beamed at her, and relayed the message with a series of clicks and squeaks. The dolphins chattered back for a moment, then turned and sped back the way they'd come, some flipping their tails in what almost seemed like a wave of farewell.
Only then noticing that she was waiting expectantly for him to hand over the chest, Luca hesitated. "Are you sure?" he asked, tilting his head at her. "I don't mind carrying it the rest of the way, and it will be easier for you to swim without it, yes?"
"But I'm slower than you," she protested, frowning as she realized that that was actually a reason for her to accept his help.
"I wanted to take it back, I should be the one to carry it," she reminded him, though her hands fell away and after a few moments she turned to swim with the current towards what she assumed would be the shore judging by the fading sun that was a little more visible to her. All the while muttering something about him being "too nice" to her.
Smiling at his little victory, Luca flicked his tail to fall in beside her, making sure to check his pace so he stayed with her easily. "I don't mind," he chirped, hefting the chest a bit so it was more comfortable to carry. "A last repayment for everything you've done for me."
Awiergan gave him a skeptical look for that, still not understanding what he could possibly need to repay her for. She'd practically robbed him already for a few days on land to learn about normal stuff. It took no skill, hardly any money she wouldn't have already spent, and she didn't understand where such heartfelt gratitude was coming from for it. If anything she should have been thanking him a little more for keeping her company and giving her something to do with her days beside cause trouble for her fellow man.
"What you're holding is already more than enough payment. Now you're just being too nice," she explained, though it did leave a smile at her lips for the mere thought of accepting his attention as genuine kindness instead of obligation or payment.
"Didn't know there was such a thing as too nice," Luca said with a lopsided grin. They were in shallow enough water now that he thought Awiergan might almost be able to stand. He came to a halt and let his head and shoulders break the surface, looking around.
"Coast seems cleared," he said after a moment.
Once she could finally touch her feet to the sand again she swam along the surface instead, the act of breathing returning to her once more after a few shaky starts. Going along down the beach she saw they weren't far from the rocks where she'd left her other belongings.
It was a strange feeling to be back again, to see the waves lapping the shore same as before like nothing had happened at all. Once she was close enough she stood up and walked until the water was about mid-thigh. Turning to him she bent with her hands outstretched again. "Going to have to hand it over this time," she teased, nodding towards the rocks, intending to drag it the rest of the way.
He smiled a bit at her teasing, surging up out of the water until everything above his waist was exposed to the air. "If you insist," he said, holding out the chest.
A sudden pang hit him then as he realized this was, in all likelihood, good-bye. His face fell noticeably and he dropped his eyes.
She took it easily enough, the sudden weight causing her to bend forward slightly before she managed to correct her balance. "Thanks," she grunted, hefting it into the shallows. It was much heavier than before being waterlogged, but she managed to shove it up into the sand.
Turning to look at him, though, she noticed his crestfallen look and tilted her head curiously. As far as she was concerned they certainly had a lot of unfinished business. "So Luca," she called, wading back out and glancing down the beach at the town. "When will I see you again? Is there some way I can call to you? I'm sure you have lots of...merfolk-y things to do but I'd like to make good on our bargain. Show you around more, show you how dogs are and all that."
She wrung the seawater from her braid -well, what braid was left after being towed through miles of open sea- and realized that she was quite anxious to settle plans with him for their next visit. "Suppose I could just stay here a little while," she offered. "So you could find me again."
He perked up instantly. "You could?" He swam a little closer to shore, looking at her with bright eyes. "I... I can try to think up an easier way to contact you, if you'd just wait for another day or two before you set out again..."
"Yeah... Yeah, sure," she agreed slowly, nodding despite the anxiety in her heart for staying in one place too long. A few days usually didn't hurt, though. Only a few people had seen her after all and none seemed particularly familiar to her.
"Will you come to town or would it be better for me to look for you out here?" She pointed at the rocks, uncertain if he would remember the layout of the town.
Luca offered a sheepish smile. "Would you mind meeting me here? I'm afraid I might get lost in town," he admitted.
"Sure." She smiled knowingly, a little tug pulling in her heart at the memory of his dopey, puppy-like wanderings in her company.
"Two days then?" she asked, shivering slightly for the wind cutting through her wet clothes.
"Two days." He beamed at her, tail flipping water happily into the air behind him. Surging up out of the water a bit, he held out his hand.
"This is how humans signify making a deal, yes?"
"Ah- Yes, it is," she chuckled, amused that it was one of the memories he'd held onto about her kind. Grasping his hand, she gave it a firm little shake but had a little trouble knowing when to end it. She wasn't exactly someone who made honest deals very often, though she'd of course seen the ritual endless times among men.
Not quite sure if he was doing the whole thing right, Luca gave her hand a few more little shakes, then tightened his grip briefly and let go. Drifting a little further back into the water, he smiled and said quietly, "I'll see you in two days then?" That should give him time to come up with something more convenient for her.
"Uh, yeah! Two days!" She gave him a short little wave before turning to drag her chest of coins further up onto the dry sand and collecting her belongings. She would need the time anyway to get rid of her newly-acquired small fortune, though she was certain most of it would end up hidden or buried.
Luca returned the wave, then back-flipped back under the water, zipping away in the direction of the caverns. Already he was going over every old story he'd heard as a guppy, cataloging his collection mentally in the hopes that something useful may crop up.
In their time apart she took stock of her new things, giving everything a thorough cleaning before deciding what would stay with her and what would be hidden. It would be good to have something to fall back on if she was ever back in the area again at least.
She buried the chest with the bulk of the coins in the beach-facing side of the forest just north of town. A few handfuls of coins were left in a few odd places as well, buried or otherwise concealed so that she wasn't keeping everything in one spot. More than a few of her things had been "stolen" that way in the past. The rest, though, she kept in her own pack or immediately on her person.
Awiergan found herself quite anxious to return to their little meeting spot near the end of the two days, hopeful that the merman wasn't just going to abandon her and dip out on their deal. He'd shook on it, of course, but she wasn't sure it held any weight in his world. Still, true to her word, she was there just waiting and watching over the gentle waves for that familiar golden shimmer.
Luca had found something. It was a long shot, but if it worked it should allow Awiergan to call on him whenever she wanted.
Of course, it didn't work the other way around, but he supposed you couldn't have everything.
He set out from the caverns a little later than he'd intended, and the sun was creeping toward midday when he finally arrived at the place they'd agreed to meet, scoping the rocky formation out from under the water before popping his head above the surface, catching sight of his human friend.
Beaming, he waved and swam closer to shore, in the shallows in a matter of moments. "Hello," he greeted her cheerily, a broad smile still stretched across his face.
Awiergan caught sight of him just as he spoke, unconsciously smiling with relief. She stepped out into the shallows, feeling the need to meet him part way for some reason. "Hi... You seem happy," she observed. Although she supposed he just naturally had a positive soul. Still, seeing such an honest smile was doing funny things to her mind.
"Does that mean good news?" she prompted, probably a little too hopeful they could keep in contact somehow.
"Well, I definitely found something," Luca said brightly. He sort of wanted to get out of the water to greet her properly, but in order for this to work he needed to keep his tail. "It's sort of extreme, but it's the best I could come up with."
"Extreme?" She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that, especially when she didn't know if he meant that for her, himself, or the both of them. It would be worth it to at least hear him out, though. "Well tell me? Or show me?"
Luca shrugged. "I don't think I can show you, really- you gotta remember, I'm mostly going off of old stories, I don't know if it will actually work."
He swam forward and held out his hand. A shining gold scale was in his open palm. "That's one of mine," he said easily. "Supposedly, if you let it dissolve in salt water, you can make a sort of scenting pool. It only works once though."
Her eyes were wide with curiosity, uncertain of what he could possibly suggest and yet not be sure of. Story or not, what he'd told her so far had seemed true. What he suggested, though, seemed the most outlandish of anything she'd heard from him.
She took the scale carefully, surprised by how light it was as she turned it over a few times in her hand. "Only once?" She frowned, somehow disappointed to hear that. It didn't seem smart to start demanding parts off his actual body to maintain a connection with someone who lived a completely different life than her own. Still she found herself asking, "Once ever? Or once per scale? And...wouldn't that take a long time to reach you?"
"Once per scale, as far as I can figure." Luca shrugged, mouth twisting to one side. "I know it's not a great solution, but it'll at least allow us to talk to each other over long distances."
"If we must, just don't like the idea of you giving up your pretty scales," she said, pouting and gesturing at his tail. "Do they grow back?"
Was that all? He smiled reassuringly. "Sure they do! Their sort of like fingernails, only instead of getting longer the new ones push the old ones out every couple of weeks," he chattered, pleased that she seemed willing to try the idea.
Well that was a relief. Somehow it seemed adorable rather than gross. "So...you shed. Is it really talking or just...calling?"
Luca swished his tail and said sheepishly, "I've never actually used a scrying pool myself, but I've been led to understand it works like a magic mirror in those old stories." He shrugged. "If you have a bowl of water and dissolve the scale into it, an image of me should appear and we can talk. I'm not sure how long it's meant to last though..."
"Oh. Th-That's- Really?!" She stared at him in awe. The pirate had never been able to see such magic with her own eyes and thought him quite brilliant for it, even if it did happen to be an innate ability of merfolk.
"I misunderstood," she laughed, feeling quite foolish to admit, "I didn't realize such a thing could actually work. Well...we don't know yet. I'll be sad if it doesn't and-" Well she wouldn't be able to contact him again. She wasn't quite ready to admit that would make her sad, though.
"Well I guess we'll need to just try it then. Thank you, Luca," she said with a genuine smile.
"You're welcome." His expression fell just slightly at when she'd left unspoken- he was a little afraid the old magic might not work himself.
"Perhaps you could try it now? Or soon?" he suggested. "If it works, you can just come back here and I can give you another scale. If it doesn't..." He trailed off, frowning, and shrugged. "I guess I'll just have to think of something else."
She shook her head. Such a thing might depend upon distance. She didn't want to risk it working with him so close and then having no way of reaching him once he was far and away at sea.
"I'll try it tonight," Awiergan decided, clutching the small scale tightly in her hand. "Go out and be wherever you would normally be and... I'll try it. Won't be any use to us if I can't reach you from there, right? And we could meet here tomorrow either way."
Luca nodded. That made sense. "Well...I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then?" he offered with a small smile, head tilting to one side.
"Well hopefully today. But yeah, in person tomorrow." It seemed like a good enough plan. She wouldn't have to worry about "losing" her new friend that way.
Gathering up her skirts in her free hand, she waded out a little more and bent to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you. Be safe out there," she bid him with a playful smile, not really knowing what had compelled her to want to say such a thing. The merman could take care of himself, especially in his own world.
Turning quickly before an approaching wave caught her she hurried back to the safety of the sands and gave a little wave over her shoulder. She would go back to town to wait out the rest of the day, but she was already quite anxious to try out his discovery.
Luca blinked at the light kiss to his cheek, then grinned at her. He kept himself as far out of the water as he could manage and waved until he could no longer see her form retreating from the beach.
Flipping back under the water, he set about putting some distance between himself and the shore. It made sense to get fisher out to sea if they really wanted to test this scrying thing. Feeling much cheerier than before, now that he knew he would at least see Awiergan the next day if nothing else, he gave a playful flick of his tail and was soon speeding along.
Awiergan was quite restless for the day. She already set aside the scale, a bowl of water, and a bit of salt for the ritual.
She waited well into the night for the familiar sounds of the town to die down and most of its residents to take to their beds before she finally moved everything to the little table in her rented room.
She mixed the salt in first, though she wasn't quite sure if that was correct. Once that seemed more or less diluted she carefully placed the scale at the center. Leaning close, she squinted at it accusingly to just watch and wait.
In a simila manner to they way his scales sluiced off his body when Luca traded fins for legs, the scale shimmered and changed to water. The liquid would turn dark for a moment, then gradually fade to an image of the merman's face.
Miles away, hunting through the seabed for something to eat that wasn't raw fish, Luca glanced up and suddenly helped when a small circle of water suddenly rippled and shifted, seemingly forming a window through which he could see Awiergan.
A broad smile stretched across his face. "It worked!"
Awiergan stared at the odd change in awe, certain that it would all fade away if she didn't watch. It certainly seemed to be doing something, the water swirling and dark and then, suddenly, a blur of light that became clearer. As the darkness faded away to reveal Luca she gasped and jumped back in her chair, hand clasped to her mouth as she stared at him with wide, blinking eyes. She'd been skeptical of it working but hearing him suddenly made it quite real.
Once she'd gotten over her surprise she was rushing to peer into the bowl again and her hands reached out to steady it as if afraid it might suddenly sprout legs and jump away from her. "You- Y-You're here! No, in there. I- Wait, how did you know? Can you see me, too?!"
Laughing, Luca back flipped in excitement and flicked his tail energetically, then forced himself to calm down and swim closer to the odd little water-window.
"I can see you," he said, beaming. "I'm not sure how, but I can."
She gasped at the sudden movement, the odd little image somehow remaining stable throughout. Her eyes sparkled in excitement, the simple human in awe that such a trick actually worked. It was such a relief and she breathed a grateful sigh.
"So it works..." She shook her head and laughed softly. "That's amazing! What do you see? What does it look like?" she asked excitedly, glancing over her shoulder to the rest of the room. "Can you see everything?"
Still grinning almost childishly, Luca said excitedly, "It's like a little window. I can see you- most of you- and some of whatever that room is behind you. Where are you?"
"Remember the inn? I'm still there- well, here." She wondered how long their little window would last, uncertain how his magic worked since he'd said himself it was just an old story. She stared into the water, an anxious little smile playing at her lips. "But before I lose you or something... Uh... You'll still come back tomorrow, won't you?"
Luca nodded, still beaming. "Yes, of course," he promised. Experimentally, he shifted a bit to the left, then the right, then up and back down. The small "window" seemed to stay the same distance from him no matter where he moved. "Fascinating," he murmured, eyes glinting.
Head tilting a bit for the odd turning of the background in their little window. "Am I following you?" she guessed, unconsciously reaching out to point beyond him. The water rippled at her touch, his image distorting. To her horror the water's movement didn't calm from hitting the rim of the bowl and instead rocked back in stronger waves as it gradually became dark again.
Face falling, she clutched at its sides to try and stop it, muttering curses until his image faded away and the water gradually cleared to become clear again. Dropping her head to the table with a sigh she realized she'd "found" how to close it. Perhaps convenient so that nobody else would ever see such communication in the future but she couldn't focus on that when there was pouting to do over her new toy being taken away.
She wondered what Luca had seen, hopeful they could discuss it if he kept his word again.
"Hm? Oh, yes, sort of. I think-"
Luca stopped talking and frowned as the little window suddenly began to ripple, then shimmer, then sort of...fade away.
"Oh..." His face fell in disappointment and he sighed. Had their time run out, perhaps. He glanced back in the direction of the coast.
Hopefully she would meet him the next day and he could figure out what had happened.
Awiergan wasted no time hurrying herself back out to the beach early the next morning. Pack slung over her shoulder she huddled close against the rocks to wait for his return. Well, if he ever came back.
Luca had actually made his way to their meeting place the previous night, sleeping just under the surface of the water, curled in the shadows of the rocks. He was still asleep when Awiergan appeared, so when he woke groggily and made out a human form closer to shore, he automatically shied away.
Then he recognized her and a relieved smile spread across his face. "Hey," he said, popping his head above the surface and giving her a little wave.
Thinking she would have to wait hours in the sun and not expecting his voice quite so soon, Awiergan startled slightly at his greeting. "Hi! ...I'm sorry about last night," she began sheepishly, uncertain of how to tell him what she'd done. "But at least it works, right?"
He smiled and nodded. "Yes." Tilting his head, he asked curiously, "Do you think we just ran out of time then?"
Shaking her head she gave a little shrug, unaware of the way that might have been taken as mixed signals about her answer. She gestured at him a few times as she tried to find her words. "It... When I touched it it just went away." Awiergan sighed and shook her head again with a sad smile. "Doesn't make sense to me, it was just barely a poke."
"Hm..." Luca considered that for a few moments, then shrugged, drifting a little closer to shore. "Well, at least we know how to turn it off now," he commented with a quick smile.
She was surprised he didn't seem upset at all over her ruining it, but she certainly wasn't going to argue it. "Yes, but it was so fast." Digging through her pack she retrieved an empty coin purse and held it out towards him in demand. "I need more."
More? "Oh, right!" Scales. Of course.
He plucked a few of the older ones from the tip of his tail, wincing slightly. It was bit like pulling out a clump of hair- a quick sting, then the pain was gone. "Here." He reached out to slip the glinting things into her coin purse.
Counting them quickly she nodded and closed up the purse tightly before stuffing it back into her pack. "That should be fine...thank you. I suppose you'll be wanting payment for these, yeah?" Well she expected it, but she wasn't exactly going to hand back any of his coins for them.
"Payment?" Luca frowned at her in confusion. "What for? It's just a way to keep in touch, it's not as though they're particularly valuable."
Well. Not that he knew, at any rate.
She certainly thought it would be valuable to be able to reach him any time she wanted, but was willing to accept it if he truly didn't want it. "Nothing is ever free. Everything costs something," she explained. It was the way things were, at least in her world.
Gesturing at him she added, "Even body parts. Or...anything off your body. I suggest not getting in the habit of giving those out to humans. Except me, of course."
"Oh." He was still frowning slightly, but he nodded, taking her advice to heart. "Alright. If you say so." His face fell a bit and he drifted closer to shore. "I guess...you're leaving now?" he said slowly, looking up at her with obvious disappointment.
He realized he'd miss her, when she left. Whatever she thought of herself, she'd been kind to him, and he'd grown rather fond of her.
She frowned slightly at the reminder and felt a bit guilty for odd look he was giving her. It was like she was taking away a child's toy.
"I suppose I should." She cast a glance towards the town down the beach in the distance. "It's never good for me to stay in one place for too long," she reminded him with a sad smile before offering, "Did you...want to come with me? There's a lot more to the world than a few seaside towns, but-" She knew he wouldn't have the sea.
Luca froze and his eyes widened at the suggestion. Then, slowly, a smile started to work its way across his face. "You- you really wouldn't mind?" He frowned suddenly. "But...you'd have to stay near rivers, at least. And we'd have to stop every three days..."
That seemed awfully inconvenient for her.
It was a little inconvenient, but she thought they might still be able to stick to roads most of the time. They'd need water either way and it was a good way to stay out of the open when necessary. "I don't mind. Seems worth it. You gave me stuff and now I can give you stuff. It's...what friends do, I'm sure you know."
She gave her bag a few pats and looked off towards the road curling away from Lorvale. "As long as you don't mind traveling on foot, I don't mind you tagging along."
He beamed. "Alright then!"
A powerful flick of his tail and he arched out of the water to propel himself into the beach. He had to wait a few moments for his tail to shift to legs, but once it did he jumped to his feet, once again forgetting the human penchant to prefer clothing.
"Shall we go?" he said excitedly, grinning at Awiergan.
The pirate watched the process in fascination. It had been difficult to see it well at night before but now she definitely got quite an eyeful.
With a short, laughing cough she looked away from him to give him a bit of privacy but she couldn't help but glance a few times as she spoke, "Luca. Um, I think we should get you some clothes first. Let's run back to town. But, um- Well don't follow me the whole way or you'll get some looks."
It would have been awkward to give him some of her own clothes. Even the pants in her bag were certainly too small for a man of his height. Bracing against the rocks she stood herself up and turned to head back down the beach, expecting him to just follow.
"Oh." He looked down at himself. "Right." Trailing behind her, he asked, "Where should I follow you to, then?" What qualified as the whole way? He figured she didn't want him walking through the center of town, but that was about all he could infer.
"Ah... Probably best if you stay on the beach. You could just stay here," she finally decided, gesturing at the sand. "Right here. I won't be long." Awiergan flashed him a quick smile but was quick to turn her head again, unconsciously giving him the privacy she would have expected a human would have wanted.
Luca frowned a bit, but shrugged and plopped down onto the sand with a careless, "Alright then."
He hoped she wouldn't be long. Just sitting here was promising to rather boring.
It was a bit early still and the market wasn't quite in full swing but she was able to find a vendor easily enough to get him a few things for the journey. On her way back to the beach she picked up a few more apples for them to share for breakfast. He'd seemed to like the one he tried before so she figured it was a safe choice of food.
Returning to him with a triumphantly smug smile she reached into her pack to retrieve some of the clothes and held them out to him. "Hope they fit," she mumbled with a shrug. Somehow she doubted he really cared too much about how well they did or didn't fit.
Luca immediately perked up when he saw Awiergan approaching, jumping to his feet. "Thanks," he said brightly, taking the clothes. He fumbled a bit getting them on, but he managed better than the first few times.
Straightening up, he frowned slightly and shifted. It seemed sand had caught to his skin in rather uncomfortable places. "Hm." He wriggled around a bit.
Once he was more or less dressed she looked him over with pride. She'd chosen quite nicely, she thought, but something seemed off about him. Frowning for the way he wiggled around she sighed and set her pack down to rummage through it. "I can get you something else," she mumbled thoughtfully, assuming they were simply uncomfortable.
"Hm? Oh no, there are fine!" He smiled at her, still shifting his weight from foot to foot. "There's- there's sand. In places. Everywhere."
Shaking his head, he tried to ignore the irritation and moved toward her with another quick smile. "Where to then?"
Awiergan smiled understandingly, feeling a bit bad that she didn't quite know how to offer any help with that without it being very personal. "West," she answered easily enough, pointing to the road just up the slope of sand that would take them that way. "Wherever that takes us. I don't really have a route planned, but... Probably better that way. I know a few places we can stop.
"You, um. You sure you don't want any help with that or anything?" she asked, gesturing a little awkwardly at him.
"Oih, I'm fine," Luca assured her, waving her off. It was just a little sand. Funny how the stuff was so much more annoying than he ever would have thought.
"What are these place you plan to stop at?" he asked curiously, falling in next to her. He wriggled his hips a bit, frowning, then took a few more steps. Alright, better. He was getting used to it at least.
She let it go easily enough, smiling kindly but still watched his squirming with a curious eye as they headed up the beach and out onto the road. "Land has a lot more than the port towns," she began gently. It was much easier to be patient with someone she knew was genuinely curious and not just trying to get information out of her.
"This is Serendipity." She gestured at the air around them and simply hoped he understood that she meant everything. "And every province is different. Different people, different landscape, different food, different traditions, different stuff. I have...supplies stored in just about every one, I think. We should be fine to visit any of them, but the bigger rivers are in the south."
Now she was uncertain if she was losing him, but she gave a short shrug. "I'll just have to show you. You'll see. We'll start with the rest of Summervale. That's where the ship took us."
"Serendipity," Luca repeated, trying his best to absorb everything she was saying, logging the information away. "Is that...this territory? What it's called?"
Merfolk didn't really have a concept of nation or country, but he figured from her talk of "provinces" that the land must be divided into territories among the people who lived on it, as the sea was often divided among his people.
Of course, there were much fewer merfolk than there were humans, but he hoped the principle was similar.
Territory seemed as good a word to her as anything else. "Yeah, pretty much. We call it a kingdom, I guess," she sneered in disgust, rolling her eyes. "The rich have all the power here. You'd probably make out quite nicely yourself."
"Rich?" He blinked owlishly at her. "What do you mean, I'd do nicely?" It still hand't really sunk in for him that his collection would be considered quite the treasure trove by human standards.
"Um...wealthy?" she tried, smiling for his clueless look. "I mean you'd be...well-liked. Favored among the people. Gold like that can buy you a lot."
He frowned, trying to understand. "Gold could buy me...people's favor?" he ventured. That didn't seem quite right.
"They'll like you. Want to be around you. People like gold." She rolled her eyes. It was ironic considering the reason she'd originally stuck around him.
"I just mean you could have a good life on land, is all." She shrugged.
Luca wrinkled his nose. "I don't think I'd want that," he said, completely oblivious. "It seems like- like what you said before about humans finding mates for convenience. Well, not quite like that, but still..."
Surprised by his perceptiveness Awiergan hummed her agreement. "Yeah... Yeah I guess it's a lot like that. People like that are usually called 'shallow.'"
She smirked for the double meaning, uncertain if it was a word he used. "That's...people who only care about a few things in life. Money. Power. Not everyone wealthy is like that, but a lot of them are. You probably wouldn't fit in with that crowd," she teased.
Shallow. "Like...you can see straight through them?" he ventured, tilting his head at her. "There's...no hidden depths. Hm." He gave her a crooked smile. "I'll take not fitting in with people like that as a compliment."
"Yes, right through them." She laughed genuinely at that, highly amused that it seemed the same no matter how she presented it anyway. "Just be careful around people like that. Don't tell them about your treasure. Or any of mine. Those have to stay a secret."
He nodded easily in agreement, starting to understand more why that might be the case. "Alright. Any other secrets I should be aware of?" His eyes sparkled a bit and his tone was teasing.
"Nothing you know about yet. But maybe," she teased right back.
Looking to the long road stretching ahead gave her a bit of pause. She'd forgotten how vast everything was in her world of hopping from port to port.
"Maybe we should have gotten a horse," she muttered. There wasn't much she was going to be able to show him before his time was up and he needed to be in water again.
"You don't mind, do you?" she asked suddenly, a bit louder as she tilted her head to look up at him. "Can stop over in the next town. See if I can convince someone to sell us a horse or two."
"You can buy them?" Luca responded, a bit surprised. Then he grinned. "No, of course I don't mind! I liked them." And if that was people on land did, then why not?"
"Mhm. Almost anything can be bought. Probably like your trading. Most things are worth something else," she explained, a little surprised that it seemed a new concept to him. She supposed he had just assumed animals couldn't be purchased in such a way.
"You wouldn't be scared to ride one?" she wondered, still surprised that he seemed willing to let her lead him into whatever she wanted.
"Ride." He blinked at her. "Like...with the dolphins?" How was that going to work, exactly? Horses didn't seemed to be shaped in a way that would make it easy- or comfortable- to be towed along.
"A little different. We use saddles. You sit on their back and use a bridle to tell them where to go. Um..." She didn't quite know how to describe all of that to him in a way he might understand. "It goes over their head. Tethers them to you, sort of. I'll have to just show you," she decided, shaking her head and frowning in frustration that she was having trouble with something that was so fundamental to the life she knew.
Luca shrugged. "As long as you show me what to do, I'm sure I can pick it up," he said with a smile and the easy confidence of someone who had never actually tried to ride horseback.
Again she was surprised at how easily he agreed but assumed it was better than him being terrified of the large, strange land creatures. She smiled kindly and reached up to pat his shoulder in a gesture of comfort. "It's easy. Might as well get used to it, I'm sure we'll be riding a lot when we aren't by the river. Every three days, yeah? And what, do you need to spend a whole night with your tail?"
He shook his head. "Theoretically, as long as I have at least a few minutes fully submerged I'll be fine. But It's not supposed to be very healthy. I'd say a couple hours to be safe." Then he shrugged and added with that sheepish little smile, "But, again, I'm working with legends and a few rather vague personal accounts. For all I know, it varies by individual."
She gave it some thought before shrugging with a clueless smile. "Well I don't want or need you getting sick on me or anything. Can start with a night and see how you feel," she decided. Remembering her apples, she quickly brought her bag forward against her chest to open it and rummage through.
"I almost forgot," she chuckled, holding one of them in her outstretched palm for him as she snickered, "Land breakfast."
"Apples!" He grinned and took the offered food eagerly, not waiting a moment to take a bite. "Thanks," he said around the fruit, eyes wide and sparkling. "Forgot how good these really are. So much different than fish."
Awiergan smiled proudly as she retrieved her own and resettled her pack. "Why don't you have them more often?" she questioned curiously. "That wasn't the first time you saw them, was it?"
"It was, actually," Luca corrected, taking another bite. "As fascinated as I am with life up here, I've actually only tried to explore once or twice on my own before I met you. It was...more difficult without a guide." He gave her an almost apologetic smile.
She laughed gently through another bite, shaking her head softly. It was a little odd, especially for how many questions he'd had for her, but she could understand his hesitation. He seemed quite childlike in many aspects. "Are you very young for your kind, then?" She wasn't even sure if they kept track of aging and years as humans did, but it was worth asking.
His head tilted. "Not particularly," he said slowly, looking at her curiously. "Why? Do I look it?" He glanced down at himself. He'd been under the impression he looked rather like most adult human males. Except for the ears, maybe.
"Nah, you just- Well, with everything so new it almost feels as if I've adopted a boy," she teased. "In spirit, I suppose. Definitely look like any man I've ever seen." Well she'd seen very few with such pretty hair and features, but she wasn't sure that it would be good for for her for him to know how uniquely attractive he would be to humans.
Luca mock pouted at her for a moment, then gave a crooked grin. "Okay, good." He glanced down at himself again and frowned slightly. "I suppose I do stand out a bit though," he muttered, plucking at the clothes she'd given him, glancing from her shoes to his bare feet. Not to mention he seemed to be rather tall by human standards.
"Just a little. Most aren't so tall, but-" Awiergan shrugged, smiling slyly. She'd seen a few exceptions in her time and he was certainly one of them. "Height is very sought after here, usually."
"Really?" He blinked, then gave her a teasing sort of smile. "Yet another thing I should be wary of humans trying to take from me?" he said, eyes glinting.
She could only laughed, shoulders shaking slightly as she tried to picture a scrappy Luca being whisked off the street for such a thing. "In a way. Just be careful those shallow ladies don't get their claws in you," she warned playfully.
Luca stared at her. "Humans don't have claws," he muttered, but he sounded less than sure of himself, and maybe a little nervous.
She blinked at him, realizing she'd said something he didn't understand. "Ah- No, no," she laughed, waving her hand dismissively. "Just a phrase for...a woman who wants you for selfish reasons. Beauty and all that: money, power. All the same stuff, ya know?"
She realized she was probably painting a pretty grim picture of human women for him, but if it kept him from wandering away from her it was probably better that way.
He nodded slowly, logging the new information away. "That's not all human females though," he noted. "You're not like that."
She flinched slightly at that, uncertain if he might have been perceptive enough to see why she'd originally befriended him. "Well... You did give me a lot of gold, but I earned it. Not like any of them," she muttered. "They would demand it without a fair trade. I try to be honest."
Luca fell silent, walking beside her. After a moment, he asked rather hesitantly, "I'm happy to give you pieces of my collection in return for your help, but... Am I wrong in assuming there's a bit more to our relationship by now?" He'd like to think they were friends.
Awiergan turned her head sharply to look straight ahead, wary of the question and the suspicions she assumed he had about her. "No, not wrong. I...like being around you. Wouldn't have suggested you come along if I didn't. You're a good person."
Somehow it was easier to trust him than any human she'd ever been around. It was a little concerning, yet it seemed so natural.
"Oh, good." He smiled a bit and ducked his head as he trailed along beside her, his cheeks feeling suddenly a little warm. "Um...thank you."
"Hey now," she murmured, nudging his arm gently with her own when she noticed his look and trying to encourage him, "No need to be bashful, come on. Surely can't be the first time you've heard that."
"Well, um..." He ran a hand through his hair and chuckled lightly. "Not- not really, I guess. We're pretty solitary, never really got the chance to get to know any others of my kind too well. About as well as I know you, actually."
"Well you know me well enough to get some nice words every now and then." She frowned, not liking that he seemed to have gone his whole adult life without any proper appreciation. "Guess I'll just have to make up for that, huh?"
Giving her a lopsided grin, Luca shrugged and mumbled a little bashfully, "I appreciate the sentiment, but that's alright, really. The fact that you've been putting up with me says a lot." He bumped her shoulder lightly, eyes dancing.
She gasped, giving him a playful expression of hurt before bumping him back again. "And what's that supposed to mean, huh?"
The merman laughed lightly, shaking his head. Then he sobered for a moment and looked down at her with a small, grateful smile. "Really, Awiergan. Thank you. For everything."
A pleased little smile curled her lips at his praise and the pirate calmed from her moment of playfulness. "Of course. Can't have you wandering like a helpless pup to wreak havoc on the world," she chuckled. "Need to train you first. Or...teach, I guess."
She pointed out towards the blurry shapes in the distance, small trails of smoke snaking their way into the sky tipping her off as to the location of the town. "Looks like it's just there, then. We'll stop and see what we can find for us. Sound good?"
Luca nodded easily, happily. "Alright," he said, trailing behind a bit to let her take the lead, which he figured was probably their best option.
She watched him over her shoulder for a bit but didn't press the issue, taking note of his not so subtle adjustment. It still hadn't quite sunken in why he did things like that. At least it wasn't aggressive. He was easy enough to deal with.
Once they were nearing the town she slowed to take in the sights. There was definitely a small stable at its edge as well as a few storefronts, but the place definitely seemed to be full of homes more than anything. "You need shoes first," she decided, thinking out loud more than anything as she walked right by the horses peering out at them on the road. Shoes were a bit tougher to fit than clothes, though.
"Really?" Luca dragged his attention away from the animals- they really were fascinating creatures- and ambled after her. "Why? I've been doing alright without them so far," he pointed out innocently.
"Well yeah but if you do that too much your feet will get sore," she explained, gesturing vaguely at them. "Shoes give them...shelter, I guess." Peeking in the windows of the few stores she saw and settling on one she pushed her way inside. Rummaging through its shelves to try to find something that would suit him, the pirate paid very little attention to what the merman was doing.
"Oh. Okay." Seeing that her attention was elsewhere, Luca meandered about the little shop, looking with interest at just about everything on the shelves. He knew better at this point than to just take something, but that didn't stop him from picking up and examining anything that caught his eye, earning him quite a few harsh looks from the shopkeeper that he was oblivious to.
At last her eyes settled upon a few promising options in the far corner of shop. Crouching down, she looked them over and set them aside. She paid no mind to the wary eyes upon her as both a stranger to the owner and someone who'd just barged into his shop without so much as a hello.
"Come try these," she called to him.
Luca's ears flicked a bit at her call- he hadn't bothered to try to cover them- and he moved easily toward her. "I just...slip them on?" He'd never actually had the occasion to wear shoes before.
Awiergan hardly noticed his ears being so used to them herself, but the shopkeeper definitely had.
"Yeah! Here, I'll help," she insisted, taking one in hand and holding it up slightly so it wouldn't go sliding away.
"Er- alright." Feeling a little awkward as he tried to balance on one leg and slide a foot into the shoe, Luca had to grab onto a nearby shelf to keep his balance and still found himself wobbling.
She couldn't help a bit of snickering at his expense, the wobbling far too adorable coming from a grown man. "Here," she chuckled, reaching out with her other hand to steady him by his calf so she could slip it on him. "How does that feel? Comfy?"
Blushing a bit at her chuckles, Luca wiggled his toes experimentally. "A little confining," he noted, "but not uncomfortable. That is, I believe they fit properly."
Humming in acknowledgement she reached for the other shoe and held it up the same way for him. "Try the other, too. Then maybe walk around a bit, see how that feels with them-"
"Can I help you two?" came the voice of the shopkeeper, interrupting her.
Awiergan looked up without any concern, smiling kindly at the man as if she forgave him for the rude clip of his tone. She noticed the odd little glances he kept giving Luca and realized that he was studying the merman's ears. "My friend here needed new boots. I'm so glad you had some in stock. We'll be over shortly, just having him try them on."
She shrugged dismissively, standing up to reach a shielding hand to cover what she could of his ear and pull his hair forward gently with a knowing smile.
Struggling to get the other shoe on, give the shopkeeper a reassuring smile, and try to keep his ears hidden all at once proved to be a bit too much for him. Boot half on, he fell on his butt with a sharp "Oooph!"
Wincing, Luca glanced up at the two humans sheepishly.
Awiergan flinched at the sound, hissing and dropping her hands in defeat. "Sorry, sorry," she muttered, knowing she should have helped him finish one thing before the other. Now she'd made both struggles that more obvious.
The shopkeeper blinked at him, studying the merman with open curiosity. "What are those...?" He pointed at the side of his head.
"None of your business," she hissed protectively, elbowing the man aside and reaching out an arm to offer to help Luca up.
Taking her offered hand, Luca clambered to his feet, blushing and glanced between her and the shopkeeper.
"They're just ears," he said quietly, leaning in to talk only to Awiergan. "Why aren't we talking about them?"
The shopkeeper's eyes widened in disbelief. He looked between them a few times before muttering something incoherent to himself and scurrying away to give them privacy again. He would deal with them when they were ready to buy. Not realizing they were natural, he wanted no part in whatever odd magic had caused them.
Awiergan rolled her eyes and watched the man go with a stern glare before whispering to Luca, "Because they're different. Don't show them to people." She sighed, hating the bite to her tone that really was for the shopkeeper and not her merman friend.
"Let me help you with that," she grumbled, gesturing at his feet before crouching down to make sure they were actually secure.
"Oh." He frowned a bit and patted his hair over his ears, eyes following her movements as she knelt in front of him. "Humans...don't much like different, huh?" Luca noted quietly, thoughtfully.
"Some do, some don't," she mused, shaking her head in thought as she checked the fit. With a few minor adjustments they seemed relatively secure, but she figured he might need her help getting them off initially once they eventually stopped for a rest.
Standing slowly, she studied his hair. He seemed relatively covered so she nodded and stepped aside. "Try walking. Let me know if they pinch or anything."
Luca nodded and paced in a few small circles. His brow furrowed slightly at the foreign sensation, but he shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile. "Nothing bad, just...strange. Different."
She watched him carefully, watching for any signs of limping or jerky movement. "Yeah...you'll get used to them, though," she tried to encourage, smiling at last and giving him a pat on the shoulder.
Moving away from the shelves she rifled through her bag for a gold coin and plunked it onto the counter for the shopkeeper with a disappointed tisk. She didn't need to check the price with him or haggle when all she had with her was gold anyway, dangerous as that might have been to admit, but she knew it was well over the cost any shoes could have had.
"Come on," she mumbled, gesturing for the door to lead him back out.
"Okay!" Wobbling a bit in his new shoes, Luca trotted after her like an over eager puppy, looking around the town again as they left the store, hoping to notice things he may have missed before.
"Horses next, right?" he tried to confirm, glancing at his companion.
"Yeah," she mumbled distractedly, heading back through the town to the place she'd seen the animals before. Not wanting to be a horse thief she asked most all the men milling about before she was finally able to find someone who seemed open to hearing her out once she explained she wanted to buy a horse.
The man named his price for the mare and Awiergan scoffed and tried to haggle him down, but he wasn't budging. He knew she was desperate for one to be asking in such a place. The more she pressed the issue, though, he eventually got fed up and added on a bit more for his tack and his troubles to be stuck in town for a few extra days.
The pirate hissed and growled. Under any other circumstances she would have just taken the stupid animal, but she didn't want to do that with Luca around. "Fine," she spat, digging through her bag and handing him a coin purse after counting it out.
He counted it back before he stepped away to let her near the tall, dapple gray creature. "Her name's Shadow, by the way," the man bid her, raising a hand briefly in farewell before turning to leave the stable. For a moment she watched him go, thinking on the name before rolling her eyes and stepping into the stall to saddle the horse.
The mare craned her neck to peer at the newcomers with wide, curious eyes. She nickered softly and snorted, turning her neck to bump Awiergan's shoulder as she watched what she was doing at her side.
"We don't have to call her that," she told Luca, shrugging and tucking her arm in a little more to avoid the curious animal. "We'll have to share until we can find another. People are too stingy in this town."
"What should we call her then?" Luca asked, moving forward with some trepidation. He'd forgotten how big they were.
The mare seemed sweet enough though, and cautiously he reached out to stroke her neck. This seemed to earn him her attention, as she swung her head around so snuffle at his clothes, probably looking for food.
"O-oh." The merman looked at Awiergan with wide eyes, hands raised and holding very still. "Uh...what do I do?"
She supposed it wasn't the worst name. Perhaps she'd been trained to respond to it. Most pets seemed like that, at least.
Craning back to watch, Awiergan laughed as the horse mouthed at him curiously, even going so far as to lip at his hair. "Nothing, it's alright," she tried to tell him through snickers. "I think she likes you."
The pirate cinched the girth a bit and called the mare's name gently," Shadow, stop that." She wasn't sure if it was the name or the sudden pressure around her middle but the gray animal quickly turned to look at her again.
"There," she announced, proud she'd remembered how to saddle a horse and that she'd gotten her to stop pestering the merman, if only briefly. Stepping around them she rummaged around for anything else the man had left them with and found her bridle hanging on the outside of the stall. "Almost done, sorry."
Staring at the animal warily, Luca still found himself smiling a bit when she lipped his hair then turned to look at the pirate.
"Take your time," he assured her, watching the process of putting different bits of leather on the horse with interest. Feeling a little more comfortable, he patted Shadow's neck distractedly as he watched.
She was glad the horse seemed gentle enough with them. It was kind of luck of the draw buying her essentially sight unseen. Perhaps it was reward for good deeds done. Carefully fitting her with the bridle she set the reins on the saddle and moved to lead her out.
"Now I'm going to sit here." She pat the saddle once she stopped the mare. "And I'll help you climb up. You'll sit here," she explained, moving her hand back to pat just behind the saddle before taking hold of the reins and swinging herself up.
Squirming around a bit, she moved her bag to her other shoulder and then leaned to offer him an arm up.
Luca took her arm and tried to mimic the swinging motion she'd used to mount. He managed to get up okay, even if keeping his balance proved to be a little more difficult. He grabbed at Awiergan's waist to steady himself.
"Um...okay, I'm good," he muttered after a moment.
She watched him get settled over her shoulder, pleased that he hadn't been fearful or hesitant. Perhaps it was simply ignorance to their journey ahead, though she was going to try her best to keep the horse slow and steady.
"Make sure you hold on. Either to me or the saddle. Probably me," she suggested. She gave him a few more moments before she resettled her feet in the stirrups and squeezed the horse gently with her legs. Already she was cursing that she hadn't worn pants for the day knowing she was going to be traveling to some extent.
The mare lurched ahead at first, unused to the woman's signal of pressure for a particular speed, but Awiergan tightened her hold on the reins to bring her down into a steady clip of a walk. "Sorry," she muttered.
"Oh!" Luca threw his arms around her middle and held on, tightening his legs around the horse automatically in response to the movement. Though Awiergan's head really only came up to his chest in this in this position, he found himself curling around her, clinging to her like a nervous child.
"Don't apologize. Just startled me," he mumbled, casting a nervous glance at the ground.
Awiergan watched him warily over her shoulder for the way he clung to her but eventually accepted his words as truth and settled them into a walk that quickly left the town behind them. "Not too bad, right?" she prompted him.
"Strange," he muttered, still trying to get used to the gentle sway of the animal beneath him. Then he offered a small smile and shook his head. "But no, not bad. Just strange."
"Good." She relaxed a little, rocking gently with the horse's movements. It had been a while since she'd last ridden, but it came back to her very easily.
"Let me know if you need a rest or anything. I know it can be a little bumpy back there," she apologized, nudging the horse gently into a faster walk and eventually a sedate little trot. If he could handle it it would certainly be a much faster way for them to travel.
"Oh no, I'm fine- whoa!" His grip around her waist tightened as he adjusted to the new gait. "Um...yeah. Yeah, I'm good." This would take some getting used to.
"I guess there's nothing like this in the sea, huh?" She took his acceptance as permission to go faster and eased the mare into a canter, leaning into her slightly as she switched gait yet again.
"No, nothing-" His voice cut off in a rather undignified yelp and he leaned forward with her, doing his best to "learn on the job" as it were, reaching his arms forward to tangle his fingers in the horse's mane in an effort to find an anchor.
She scooted forward as best as she could, feeling a bit bad for the desperate way his hands reached around for the horse's mane. The mare grunted for the shift of their weight on her back but carried on steadily enough.
"Still okay, Luca?"
Not really. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." He wasn't falling off at any rate, which had to count for something, right?
Honestly she was thrilled and didn't think to check with him beyond that, trusting the merman would say something if anything truly needed to change. "Just hold on, we'll go as far as she'll take us today," she promised, encouraging the horse to keep going as long as she could carry them.
Luca nodded an affirmative, not quite trusting himself to speak again as it was taking most of his concentration just to stay on. He ducked his head and clung to his companion, part of him wanting to close his eyes and the other part fascinated with the landscape scrolling by them.
Once they were a few miles from town Awiergan brought them back down to a steady trot. She was impressed with their mare but certainly didn't want to tire her out too quickly. The horse threw her head a bit but settled into the smoother gait. "How do you like it?" she asked, twisting to look at Luca as best as she could, obvious excitement in her eyes.
He offered a shaky sort of smile. "It's...interesting. Scary, but fun."
Scary? And fun?
"How can that be?" she laughed. "What's scary about it? You're with me, you're perfectly safe!"
"Yes, I know." He gave her waist a little squeeze. "It's just...it's rather high. And bumpy..."
"Ahh."
Awiergan slowed the horse to a walk again with a rather guilty look. "Sorry, any better? I forget how much easier it is being the one in the saddle."
"Oh, no, that's alright!" He smiled at her in assurance. "I'm fine, really, it just- took some getting used to, that's all."
Awiergan just shook her head. "Yeah, but you'll have to get used to it again when you're the one in control," she pointed out. "Might be a day or two, but- Just don't get too comfy back there." She was only half-teasing, but she also didn't want him thinking the experience was exactly normal or ideal.
"Right. Okay." He nodded determinedly.
"She's a very strong creature," Luca noted after a moment of quiet consideration. "I mean, I'm not exactly small, and she has to carry both of us. Isn't this tiring for her?" Concern started to creep into his tone, a bit belated perhaps but still there.
Awiergan just scoffed at his concern. While she knew horses were a good bit more intelligent than most animals seemed she still had remorse over making the mare work. "I think she'd let us know if she was uncomfortable. They're very...flighty animals sometimes, but they're built to work. They're really strong," she admired. "Just don't let them get lazy on you."
"Oh. Alright then." Able to relax a little more, Luca turned his attention to the land around them as it passed by.
She kept them going well into the evening. The mare was quieter, her earlier fire worn off as she carried her head low.
"We should find a good place to sleep," she mumbled, eyes scanning the horizon as she nudged the mare off the path to head into the brush. "We shouldn't be too far from the river," she explained, as if that should have been answer enough.
"Okay." Luca looked around curiously, then tilted his head as he caught the faint sound of running water. "Are we sleeping outside then? Or in anther of those rented-room places?"
"Outside," she sighed, frowning slightly at the reminder. "I prefer civilization, but... Not always possible. We'd probably be riding most of the night to get to another town." They tended to be a bit more spread out in open country, but she wasn't sure how to explain that to him.
Once they reached a mostly clear patch of grass she pulled in the reins slightly to stop the horse, who was all too eager to drop her head and begin grazing before the pirate had even clambered down.
"Alright, down we go," she prompted him, reaching up to offer her arms for support if he needed it to get off the horse's back.
Luca tried to mimic her dismount without the held, he really did. But it seemed his body decided to inform him that sitting on a horse for hours on end when he wasn't used to it basically turned his lower body to jelly and he essentially collapsed onto her, staggering in an effort to get his balance.
"Oh- Sorry, I'm sorry!"
Unprepared for that Awiergan easily tripped over her own feet and got bumped to the ground. She saw the horse jump a bit, large head swinging around to peer down at the human who was suddenly sprawled on the ground.
Wincing, she snapped her head up to glare at Luca for a moment before cautiously climbing to her feet. "You okay?" she asked distractedly, raising her hands to study her grazed palms.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm really sorry." Luca scrambled awkwardly to his feet, wincing and lowering his head to look at her sheepishly through the hair that had fallen forward to hang over his face.
She brushed herself off and looked up at his pitiful look with skepticism for a long moment before deciding it wasn't worth getting angry with him. He was still practically a puppy, after all.
"It's okay," she sighed, reaching out to pat his arm in an awkward gesture of comfort. "Just have to be more careful. Sure you're okay?" Awiergan looked him up and down as if she expected to find some injury after all.
He smiled, relieved and nodded quickly. "No, no, I'm fine, really," he assured her with a smile. "A few scrapes maybe, but nothing serious."
"Scrapes?" She narrowed her eyes. "Where? Let me see."
Luca waved her off quickly with a reassuring smile. "It's nothing, really," he protested, waving his hands at her- scraped palms- and taking a slightly wincing step back- bruised knees.
The pirate wasn't buying it. She watched his attempt at dismissal and moved to followed his retreat, taking note of the change in his expression. "Oh come on," she insisted, irritated she could see that something was bothering him that she'd yet to notice.
"Where. I didn't drag you all this way for you to die of some- some stupid thing. Tell me," she demanded, barely masking the bite in her voice.
Sensing defeat, Luca stopped and sighed. He held his hands out to her, shoving the myriad of tiny cuts over his palms. "I'm hardly going to die from these," he huffed. After a moment, he added sheepishly, "My knees hurt a bit too."
Her face softened considerably as she leaned forward to examine his hands, clicking her tongue and shaking her head at the dots of blood. "Must have soft skin," she mused thoughtfully, reaching out both hands to take one of his and pull it closer for her to look at.
"I bet you bruise like a lady," she mumbled, gently poking to make sure there wasn't anything stuck underneath before she swapped to the other one. "Does anything feel broken?" She squeezed her thumbs down firmly. "Does that hurt?"
Luca hissed in a soft breath as she prided at the sensitive skin, but shook his head. "No, nothing's broken," he mumbled, feeling very much like a child and not really liking it. "I'm fine, really."
She sigh with relief, "Good."
Releasing him, she crouched down to poke at his knees as well. "And nothing here? You're sure?" The horse had swung her head around to study them in their curious ritual and lipped gently at Luca's arm.
Smiling at Shadow, Luca patted her neck and then rubbed her nose lightly. "I'm fine. Maybe a little bruised." He bent, taking her arm and trying to urge her back to her feet.
Awiergan rose up for the pressure, not wanting to fight him over something so minor. "Sorry," she sighed, brushing herself off and turning to Shadow to take her reins and move her away from the clearing to tie to a tiny tree, one so small she questioned its integrity to hold her if she truly wanted to flee.
"Just don't want to be an awful guide to you. Let you get hurt twice already," she muttered.
"I'm really not hurt," Luca laughed, trailing behind her. He patted Shadow's shoulder absently as he watched her tether the horse. "Besides, you can't be expected to protect me from my own clumsiness."
"Yes I can," she argued stubbornly, shaking her head as she carefully unsaddled the horse to give her a rest for the night. "You'll hardly make it to the next province at this rate," she complained dramatically.
"Awiergan." He reached out to touch her shoulder and turned her to face him, smiling. "You've done a lot for me already. You don't have to worry yourself so much."
She turned easily enough but just stared up at him with a pout despite his assurances. "Look, I'm the one that would get pinned with murder if you go and get yourself killed. Just looking out for myself," she insisted.
Luca rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna get myself killed," he grumbled. "Contrary to what you seem to think, I'm not actually a child."
His own eyes widened just a bit, surprising himself with the bit of bite to his tone. He hadn't meant to sound snappish.
The sudden change in his tone surprised her, one brow raising in question as if expecting him to take it back or apologize. "I never thought you were a child, just thought you had a very...youthful energy sometimes."
She shrugged, seeing no reason for her to feel particularly bad for seeing him that way. He was curious and energetic, more so than any man she'd ever met. That wasn't a bad thing, though.
"Yes. Well." He cleared his throat, shuffling his feet and glancing around awkwardly. "I guess I do... Are we sleeping here then?" Not a very subtle change of subject, but then, he wasn't a very subtle creature by nature.
"Yes," she snorted, gesturing at the clear patch of grass as she turned to set her things down. "If you want you could try being in the river tonight, though."
"That sound like a good idea." He was longing for the familiarity of water after spending a good part of the day on horseback.
Stripping down, Luca slipped into the river, letting his shoulders and head rest on the banks as he shivered a bit when the change came over his legs, scales replacing skin.
Awiergan padded about their little "camp" for a while to get things settled and form a makeshift bed for herself by the fading light. Once things were relatively settled, though, she wandered closer to the water, curious how he was holding up in freshwater. "How does it feel?" she asked a little hesitantly, moving to sit down near him on the bank.
Luca drew himself a little further out of the water, propping himself up with his elbows and smiling at her. "Different from the sea, but not bad," he replied, glancing over his shoulder as he gave a flick of his tail, sending a few drops of water arcing through the air.
Laughing a little self consciously, he added, "It's strange though. I have this feeling, like my legs should be sore- but I don't have legs, so it's like the soreness doesn't know where to go."
"Really?" Her eyes widened as she leaned toward him, studying what she could see of his tail and flinching slightly at the light touch of water that landed on her cheek for it.
"That must feel...odd. Is it all through your tail, then?" she wondered curiously.
He shrugged, frowning at his tail and giving it another flick. "Sorta. More here." He twisted onto his back and traced a vague line down the center of it, shifting a little higher up onto the bank as he did.
Watching the gesture, she nodded and hummed thoughtfully. "Legs... Where they would be, I guess? But that doesn't make sense." She laughed softly and sat back a little to look further down the river. It seemed clear and wild as far as she could see before it disappeared into some trees in the distance.
"Guess it's good we stopped for a rest, then. It would be uncomfortable to ride sore," she admitted.
He chuckled. "It'll be worse tomorrow. But I don't mind." He tilted his head back to grin at her. "I kinda like being sore. I like anything with my legs really. It's always new, different."
Awiergan could only laugh at that, shaking her head at the merman's innocence. "Luca. Don't say that, there are plenty of awful things in the human world," she told him, though it was hard to stay serious through her snickering. "Good things, too, but it's easier to find trouble than it is to just...explore."
"Well, then it's a good thing I have you," he replied a little cheekily, grinning at her.
She chuckled, unable to stop smiling. "No. Bad thing. Trust me, I find plenty of trouble," she insisted.
Grin turning crooked, Luca splashed some water at her playfully. "Maybe I like trouble," he chuckled. "In reasonable amounts, of course."
She gasped for the sudden chill of water that easily seeped into her clothes, small splash that it was. "Well you'll be getting plenty of it." Awiergan huffed and looked around for something to throw back at him before settling on a couple fistfuls of grass, leaning forward to rain the little blades upon him.
"Oi!" Luca mock scowled and shook his head, though he was pretty sure grass still remained in his hair. He flicked some more water at her, this time scooping it up with his tail fin.
The pirate laughed as she watched him, grinning like a fool until she saw the water coming at her. She tried to dodge it but it was far too late and she got quite a face full instead.
"That's not fair!" She growled, though her smirk was entirely playful. Grabbing another fistful of grass she ground it into his hair best she could.
"Just using natural talents," Luca responded gloatingly, before his eyes went wide when he realized what she was trying to do. His attempt to duck away came too late.
In retaliation, he grabbed her around the middle and hauled her onto his lap, pinning her arms to her side. "There. Immobilized," he declared, quite pleased with himself.
Well, that earned him a screech. Awiergan curled in on herself, desperately trying to keep from being dunked in the water as she assumed he was planning. She threw her weight against one arm and then the other to try and prove him wrong, but she really wasn't making any progress on being "free."
She'd sorely underestimated the merman's strength until that moment. "Luca," she hissed, turning her head to look at him with pleading eyes.
His lips quirked up on one side and he shifted her around a bit- both to keep her out of the water to to prove that he could. "Still think I'm childish?" he teased lightly, though he really wasn't sure why he did.
"You're holding a poor, defenseless woman against her will. So yeah, that's pretty childish." She probably shouldn't have challenged him, but it seemed wrong to just concede defeat just because he had the clear upper hand.
Luca arched an eyebrow at her. "Defenseless, huh?" Her held her a little closer, hiking her up against his chest and grinning smugly. "What happened to bad and dangerous?"
Awiergan glowered at him, muttering curses for his good memory. "I'll be dangerous if you don't let me go," she warned, though it was entirely a bluff. She had no idea what she would possibly do if she couldn't even reach for one of her knives.
He considered that for a moment, tilting his head at her, then grinned again. "Hmm...I think I'd rather like to see you try." There was a glint of mischief in his eyes that they normally lacked.
She bit her lip and then looked down. She knew she wasn't actually going to hurt him but she thought the threat of her even brandishing a knife might help her cause. If she could even manage to grab it, of course.
Stretching her arm down as far as it would go she reached desperately to pull her skirts up bit by bit, just barely catching the fabric on her fingertips each time. She could see it, but it was just out of reach. Wriggling on his lap she strained desperately against his grasp to try for it, knowing full well how obvious she was being. Stealth wasn't exactly her goal, though.
"Ah-ah." Luca reached down to grab her wrist- lightly enough that she could easily break away if she wanted to- and gave her a smug grin. "Cheating," he accused lightly. "I'm unarmed."
He found his eyes drawn to the little flashes of leg her fiddling with her skirts was providing. Heedless of any impropriety, he released her wrist to run his hand over her calf, experimentally. "Huh." A lot like his legs, when he had them.
"I never said dangerous was fair," she spat, though she gave up trying easily enough. Her eyes followed his hand down and she tensed up automatically for the sudden touch.
Had he been anyone else that would have easily earned him a slap, but Awiergan didn't want to chance hitting a man who still had her quite easily by one arm. Instead she reached to try and pull his offending hand away.
"Luca." She cleared her throat and warned him, "On land you can't just go running around touching a lady's legs. It's indecent."
"Oh." His eyes widened and he drew his hand back quickly, removing his other arm from around her middle to release her. "Um, sorry."
Staring at her curiously, he couldn't help but ask, "Why? They're just legs, aren't they?"
Once she was free she was quick to place herself safely back on the bank beside him. She honestly had enjoyed their moment of play and realized that she'd mistakenly put an end to it. Somehow that didn't quite make her feel any better, though, and she frowned thoughtfully for his question. How did she explain the reasoning behind propriety?
"They are. Legs, I mean. Nothing special about them, just- Really you're only supposed to touch someone like that if you're...familiar. You know, with the rest of their body." She wasn't sure if she was being helpful or not, but she was trying to carefully toe around outright saying sex. There were plenty of other reasons people would be comfortable with that sort of thing, and she was quickly realizing it hadn't been a bad thing to her.
Luca blinked, trying to digest that. "Um. Alright then," he murmured eventually, nodding and accepting it as another strange human quirk.
He rolled back onto his belly, bracing his forearms on the bank to keep himself up. "I'm, uh, sorry. If I made you uncomfortable."
"You didn't." Damn, way too fast.
She fidgeted to adjust and fold her legs beneath herself instead. "I mean, it's just me. I just wanted you to know so you don't cause a scene, you know, with other humans."
"Oh. Good." He offered her a small smile, glad she didn't seem put out with him. "Don't worry, I won't do it again," he added quickly, trying to be reassuring. He didn't want her to have to babysit him all the time.
Her eyes widened slightly for that, her mouth opening to argue it but not knowing how to do so tactfully. "But... I mean, I don't mind it, I know you're curious. You're allowed to, just- Ask next time?"
Huh. Interesting. "Alright." He smiled at her, nodding in thanks.
Casting a glance at the setting sun, Luca asked, completely serious, "Are you going to sleep on the riverbank?"
She followed his look to the horizon and then glanced up towards the horse and her belongings. It wasn't exactly practical to sleep there. What if she rolled in?
"Did you want me to?"
Luca shrugged. "Only if you wanted to," he said easily, smiling. "I just wasn't sure." Glancing down at the water, he frowned a bit and murmured, "Although I suppose you may roll in, which wouldn't be good..."
She laughed at that, shaking her head and nodding. "Exactly what I was worried about. That wouldn't be a fun way to wake up."
She sighed and scooted a little closer, reaching to carefully pluck the remaining grass from his hair. "I'll go sleep up there, I guess. Seems...weird to be away from you, though," she mused.
"Mhm," Luca agreed softly, leaning into her touch just a bit. He smiled though, waving her toward the horse. "Go on. I'll still be here in the morning," he said lightly.
Awiergan nodded, giving his hair a few gentle pets once she was finished to smooth it back out again. "Goodnight, then," she bid him, standing on shaky legs -she was beginning to feel a little sore herself from their ride- to head back up the bank and settle herself in her little campsite. Turning over, though, she raised a hand to just barely give him a little wave in the growing darkness if he was even paying attention.
Luca watched her get settled, waving a quick hand himself in reply before slipping back so he was mostly in the river. It was a little strange, and it took him a moment to find a place to settle himself comfortably, but once he had his exhaustion from the day won out quickly and he was soon dozing.
Lacking a proper bed for the first time in weeks, Awiergan slept fitfully at best. Everything ached when she woke the next morning. She rolled up with a grumpy groan, rubbing at her face and realizing something wasn't quite right.
The horse was gone. Well, not gone, free. Snapping her head around she saw her a little ways down the riverbank grazing there and dragging the reins of the bridle along with her. Growling under her breath the pirate staggered to her feet to stumble after her.
Luca hadn't really taken the drift of the current into account when he'd bedded down, so he found himself waking a little further downstream. Yawning, he rolled his neck and moved to sit up, blearily realizing most of his upper body was resting on the bank.
A munching sort of sound drew his attention and he glanced around. "Oh." Smiling he held his hand out to the grazing horse, clicking at her softly. "Here, Shadow," he coaxed, hoping it would work. He couldn't exactly go and catch her with his tail.
Recognizing his voice as familiar, the mare's ears turned toward him and she lifted her head slightly to study him, curious as to why the man-creature was on the ground. Nickering lightly, she pressed her muzzle to her hand as she struggled to chew around the bit in her mouth.
Seeing the horse wandering closer to the water Awiergan felt an overwhelming sense of dread, wondering if she might be stupid enough to actually go into the unknown water. "Horse," she hissed.
"Atta girl," Luca murmured, smiling and rubbing her nose, then stroking his hand down her neck. Hauling himself more out of the water, he grabbed her reins with one hand and used the other to provide some leverage so he could get his tail entirely on dry land.
Once his legs were back, he stood- a little shaky, leaning against Shadow's flank for support.
Shadow snorted, shaking her head and bending to watch the merman with interest once he was on land. She'd certainly never seen anything like him before but she only recognized him as a human with strange legs and didn't know she might have been afraid instead of curious.
Awiergan slowed when she saw something coming out of the water near the horse, surprised she wasn't spooking with Luca being right there. "How did you get down here?" she scolded. Then, thinking he might have noticed she'd been missing, her expression softened. "Luca? Did you swim here to get her back?"
"Er- not exactly." He grinned sheepishly. "I sort of drifted, I think. While I was sleeping. Woke up and she was right there, so I figured..." He held the reins out to her, patting Shadow's withers again.
"Oh... Right, right." Of course he hadn't meant to save the horse. Or rather, save them from having to go after the silly animal.
Taking the offered reins she nodded slowly and glanced back down the river where she'd come from. "I'll just, uh, take her back, then. Have some stuff to do," she muttered, gesturing vaguely that he was welcome to follow if he wanted as she turned to lead her away back towards her makeshift bed.
"Yeah, right." Not to mention his clothes were back in their little camp. He trailed after her, keping his hand on Shadow's flank.
Once they were back she tied the horse a bit more securely than the previous night and gave her a gentle little chastising pat for being naughty and "running off."
"I'm going to change," she announced, making a face and shuddering as she stepped away to gather up her things. "Dress was not a good choice for riding."
Luca looked her attire up and down as he gathered his own clothes. "I suppose that does seem rather restrictive for the position one has to be in," he noted as he pulled on breeches and shirt, deciding to sit to get on his new boots.
Awiergan hummed, turning her back to him to exchange her dress for a much more practical pants and tunic. "Not so much restrictive as uncomfortable. Better to have legs fully covered," she explained.
"Oohhh..." He looked at Shadow, then at the saddle, and winced. "Yes, I can't imagine that was very comfortable," he muttered, scrunching his face up at the thought.
"Not really," she agreed, packing away the last of her things before sitting to pull on her own boots and situate her knives on the outside of her clothes instead. "You hungry?" she asked, glancing up at him with a curious look. "Probably should just stay the night in the next town over."
"Starving, actually," Luca admitted with a quiet laugh. "How far to the next town, then?"
She smiled apologetically, shrugging and bending to rifle through her bag again in search of something to tide them over.
"Don't know. Not even sure I've ever been this way before. If I have it was a long time ago. There are...a lot of roads. Hard to keep everything straight sometimes." She found a final apple and held it up briefly. Shadow nickered, shifting a little closer to her once she spotted the gleaming piece of fruit in her hand.
"Can split this," she offered, pressing it with her hands until the top gave way and it broke roughly down the middle. "Don't really have anything else." She held out a half to him, wary of the way the horse was watching her.
"Thanks." He took the apple with a smile and bit into it.
Shadow nosed his shoulder and he glanced over at her. Suddenly feeling guilty- he blamed the big, brown eyes- he broke his own section of the apple in half and offered a piece to her on a flat palm.
The horse lipped it up eagerly and he smiled, crunching into his own piece happily.
Awiergan watched with a pang of guilt as he fed the horse. "Luca! Don't do that, she has plenty to eat," she scolded gently, shaking her head and biting her own piece in half. Immediately she held out another quarter to him, not wanting him to go hungry on her watch.
"Eat it," she demanded, brow furrowed stubbornly.
Luca took the piece with another murmured thanks, ducking his head sheepishly. "Sorry, couldn't help it," he mumbled, glancing up at her through a few strands of hair. He really would have to figure out a way to keep it all back somehow. Leaving it loose was rather annoying on land.
She shook her head, smiling slightly in understanding. "I know. I may be a thieving disgrace of a person but...it's natural. To want to do stuff like that for others."
Turning to Shadow she gave her a few firm pats and held out her palm to let the mare at least lick her hand clean of juice. "But horses will eat just about anything you put in front of them like they're starving," she teased, ruffling her forelock before smoothing it down over one eye.
Done chewing, she turned to gather the rest of the tack and started saddling the horse again. "You going to be okay to ride today you think?"
Luca watched her interact with the animal with a small smile, then nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine," he chirped in assurance, moving forward to closer observe how the tack was meant to be put on properly. Maybe he could help, eventually.
Nodding, she focused on her task and then leaned to grab her bag before mounting up again. She winced slightly as the position stretched her muscles in a way that reminded her of her soreness all over again but scooted around in the saddle a bit to make sure it was secure before offering him an arm to help him up again.
Luca mounted up, a little easier than he had previously, though still wincing slightly. It seemed his muscles had started to remember that he had legs, and that they were sore.
Awiergan let out a sharp breath, grumbling quietly as she reseated herself and waited for him to get settled. She pet at the horse's neck, untangling a few small knots in her mane before she nudged her into a walk back towards the road.
"Going to be a long day," she sighed.
Oblivious to her apparent grouchiness, Luca shrugged and slipped his arms around her waist as they started moving.
"At least it's a nice one," he noted cheerfully. The sky was clear, and though the sun was shining it wasn't too hot. Just nice.
Nice? She tilted her head back to look up above them. "I mean, at least it isn't raining," she conceded, grimacing. "That'd be awful. Everything would be muddy and gross and just- No, no rain. We'll stay inside if the weather gets bad."
He chuckled quietly, leaning forward against her slightly as he looked around. "Fine by me. I've discovered I'm usually only a fan of water that's not falling from the sky."
"Really?" She giggled at that, the thought that such a thing might be unpleasant to a merman somehow quite hilarious. "What does that even feel like? Rain when you're already wet... Why wouldn't you be a fan?"
He wrinkled his nose. "It's just...odd. It's like my body doesn't know if I'm supposed to be on land or in the water, legs or tail. Nothing bad exactly, it's just strange."
"Ah. Didn't think about that," she mumbled, humming softly. "Guess it would be weird to bathe like a human, too, huh?" She smiled to herself, shaking her head gently and trying not to laugh as she tried to picture him trying to fit into a bath with his tail.
Luca chuckled, shaking his head as well. "I don't think I can," he said after a moment of thought. "Once everything below the waist is submerged, I get my tail back."
"Shame," she giggled. "It's fun, relaxing. Different from open water, I guess. Well, for me. You might feel right at home."
"Well, maybe I should try sometime," he said, smiling and shrugging. "Might be interesting, even with my tail."
Awiergan snickered, still highly amused by the image, her shoulders shaking slightly as she tried to hide it and failed. "Maybe we can find a big one in a city, then."
Luca mock scowled at her back. "Are you laughing at me?" he demanded, poking her side lightly.
"No!" But that only made her laugh more. "No, I'm sorry, I-" And more. She had to stop Shadow, the horse twitching a little nervously for the sudden sound above her as Awiergan practically doubled over herself in hysterical laughter.
"Just- The fin. Out of the water!" She was really struggling to actually tell him what was so damn funny to her about it.
Though he wasn't quite sure why she was laughing so hard, Luca found the sound contagious and was soon chuckling himself. "Well, I suppose you'll have the chance to see it, eventually," he said after a moment, grinning.
"Y-Yeah," she sighed, biting her lip to try and calm her snickering and urge Shadow onward again.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sighed, pressing a hand to her belly for the ache she'd caused. "I was trying to imagine you in a bath and you just- You couldn't fit exactly and your poor tail fin was just flopped over the side."
Luca gave a low grunt at the mental image that provided, shaking his head and smirking. "Then we'd just need to get a bigger bath," he decided easily.
"Mhmm," she agreed, sighing and rubbing at her side for the annoying little stitch. "Quite a luxury in this world, but we might be able to manage it."
Seeing that she was rubbing at her side, Luca frowned slightly and laid his hand over the spot. "Are you hurt?" he asked, concerned.
"Huh? Oh, no. Well, not really." She looked down at the spot with a slight frown. "Happens if you laugh too much," she warned him. "Just... I don't know why. Just does sometimes. Just a little soreness, tight muscles."
"Hm." He rubbed her side lightly. "Well. Sore muscles are rather new to me, but they're not very pleasant."
"Yeah," she groaned, twisting a little in the saddle to try and work out the kinks. It didn't really help much. "It's different, though. It fades faster than normal sore would. I guess...like a wound: a cut instead of a stab."
Luca frowned slightly. He still didn't like the idea of her in discomfort, minimal or not. Rubbing his fingers gently against her side, he asked, "Does this help?"
She winced slightly at the initial pressure but found that it was actually quite pleasant if she didn't stay so damn tense. "Yeah, actually... Don't have to do that, though. Weird, isn't it?" She looked at him over her shoulder, flashing a playful smile for that.
He shook his head, grinning widely. "I don't mind. And I'm getting used to riding, so I can actually do other things with my hands besides hold on." He moved his other hand to rub at her shoulders, then the nape of her neck. She felt awfully tense to him.
Despite his happy look her face seemed in a constant glower, brow furrowed in disbelief at what he was saying. She had to admit it seemed he was a fast learner in all aspects, though.
Turning to face forward again she watched the road ahead through half-lidded eyes, shoulders slumping forward slightly. She gave light little hisses for the pressure at first but quickly fell silent to just enjoy it.
Luca paused for a moment, suddenly unsure of himself. It was harder to read her reactions when she wasn't facing him. "Am I hurting you?" he asked worriedly.
While it was short-lived she'd quite enjoyed it and breathed a soft sigh of thanks. There was no reason to demand more just because he was back there, after all, but his words caught her attention and she realized he might not have actually been done.
Turning her head again to look at him sidelong she finally found her voice again, "What? No, no! Sorry... Felt nice, I got kind of lost in it."
"Oh." He let out a quick breath of relief and smiled, resuming his ministrations. "Good. Maybe this can be part of my way of saying thank you," he said brightly.
"Oh no," she bemoaned teasingly. "Thanks for what now? Sticking you on a horse headed for nowhere in particular with grumpy old me?"
She couldn't quite keep a straight face, though, a few odd little noises escaping her. The tension gradually melted away under his hand, and she was quite at his mercy.
Luca chuckled a bit, but he was watching her with interest, intrigued by the reactions he was getting. He certainly seemed to be doing something right, at least. Curiously, he increased the pressure of his hands a bit.
It was heavenly. A low hum and moan escaped her and she hung her head just a bit, struggling to keep herself upright against it. The longer it lasted, though, the more she fidgeted for the almost painful awareness of the rest of her that could sorely use a good massage.
She tightened her grip on the reins slightly, Shadow bending her neck slightly for the sudden movement as she looked up at them in confusion. She wasn't quite sure if Awiergan was trying to tell her something, but her sounds were certainly no command she'd ever heard so she just continued walking along.
Luca paused again, hands resting on Awiergan's shoulders. "You sure I'm not hurting you?" he asked with a small frown. The humming seemed like a good sign, but some of the other sounds escaping her were confusing to him.
She gave an automatic, whining growl of frustration when he stopped again. Opening her eyes fully for the loss she sighed and nodded, too preoccupied with what he wasn't doing to thank him for what he already had done.
"Not hurting," she answered firmly. "Still feels nice. Really nice."
"Ah- okay." He resumed rubbing little circles of her shoulders and neck, then trailed his hands down her back. "I just wasn't sure, I don't think I've heard a human make sounds like that," he muttered, eyes focused on the back of her neck.
Awiergan shivered in delight once he started up the gentle kneading again, head falling forward with a short huff and gasp as his hands swept down along her back.
"What about your own kind?" she asked quietly once she'd found her voice, noting his mention of human.
Luca shook his head, shrugging. "No, not them either," he murmured, chuckling. "Aside from my mother when I was young, I haven't really spent much time with my own kind."
"Oh." She frowned some for that, unsure why but knowing it definitely bothered her a little.
"Well you're good at this," she praised, sighing happily and rolling her shoulders a bit with a soft moan.
He chuckled quietly. "Good to know. Perhaps I will be able to cultivate it as a useful skill while I'm on land," he said teasingly.
"I don't think you'd like that very much." She laughed softly under her breath. "Pretty sure that would fall under the services of a whore."
He took a moment to remember that word. Once he had, his cheeks flushed and he muttered, "O-oh. Should I, um...not be doing this then?"
Awiergan lifted her head and cast a look at him over her shoulder, amused at the slight color to his face. "Depends. Do you like making me feel good?"
Luca stared at her, blinking wide eyes while his cheeks darkened a shade. "Well, um...I mean, yes, I suppose I do. I think I like doing...nice things for my friends?" He hadn't meant it to be a question, but for some reason his voice sort of squeaked up at the end.
"Well it's not quite the sort of thing you'd normally do to be nice to a friend," she explained gently. There really wasn't any use in misleading him about such things. She definitely didn't want him thinking it was okay to cozy up to just anyone they might pass. "But since it's you and I... I think it's alright, don't you?"
He shrugged, ducking his eyes as he thought it over for a moment. "As long as you don't mind," he decided eventually, working lightly at her shoulders again.
"I don't mind," she assured, though she did feel a little annoying bit of guilt for accepting it regardless. "Just be careful who you do that with. Don't want people getting the wrong idea about you."
"Right. Okay." Luca nodded. Casting about for something else to say, he eventually decided on, "Do you think we'll be sleeping outside again tonight?"
She made a face at that, staring out accusingly at the path ahead of them. "Gods I hope not. I'll get us to a town if I can," she promised, though she was wary if she could actually make good on that.
"Oh, I don't mind!" Luca hurried to assure her. "I was just wondering, that's all."
He let one hand drift down to pat Shadow's flank and added, "I don't want to overwork her."
"Horses are meant for work," she reminded him gently, though she smiled softly for the example of the merman's compassion. "How did you like the river?"
"It was nice enough," he said with a small shrug. "Not like the sea- but I've heard that some of my kind can survive for years in only fresh water, and I think the idea no longer seems entirely unappealing to me."
"Really? But it's so different, isn't it? What do you like about it?" she wondered, nudging Shadow into a slightly faster pace.
"It's rather nice to be so close to the surface all the time," he mused. "But that's also what's kind of uncomfortable about it. And there's no salt, which was...different. I'm not quite sure if it's good or bad different just yet."
She soaked in the information, uncertain why being near the surface would be uncomfortable but figuring it was something only his kind might understand in the sense that he meant it. "Well you know there's other water, too. Deeper water. Lakes and ponds," she explained, gesturing out ahead of them as if he could picture them just with that. "And the river gets deeper in some areas, too, not always so shallow."
"Yes, I've heard, but it's rather hard to picture," he said with a crooked grin. "Do you think maybe we'll pass by one?"
"Sure we will. I mean...probably bound to, at least. There are more along the big riverways, if you want to travel that far." She was beginning to curse her lack of knowledge of Summervale; the province had never been of much interest to her before and now she had reason to know its geography.
"I'm not the best guide money could buy, but I'll get you there," she teased.
"Well, I don't want the best," Luca said lightly, hugging her gently around the middle for a moment with a quick smile. "I want you."
There was a rather annoying drop in her chest for hearing him say that, especially with the way he was cuddling up to her. Awiergan frowned, not too sure why it made her feel a little funny. "Well," she began slowly. "You're stuck with me anyway 'cause I'm not giving you your gold back."
He frowned slightly, confused by why she'd say that. "I wouldn't ask you to," he said plainly, tilting his head a bit.
"Right... Just making sure you knew. No refunds," she muttered, turning her head slightly to look at him. She wasn't quite sure why she liked being around the merman. It might have been his persistent, bubbly outlook on life. He always seemed so carefree unbothered, it was honestly quite nice to be around after living so much in self-isolation.
Moving the reins to one hand, she leaned back a little and reached up to brush her fingers through his hair, pushing up slightly to peek at his ear and honestly forgetting that she hadn't asked or even warned him before invading his personal space again.
Luca froze at the touch, staring at her with wide eyes. His ear flicked at the brush of her fingers and he shivered. Seemed he was pretty sensitive there. Huh- he'd never actually noticed that before. "Um...wh-what are you doing?"
She stopped, eyes shifting between his ear and his face as she slowly turned red. Then, suddenly, she was dropping her hand and sitting up straight again.
"N-nothing," she stammered, cringing as she knew she'd been caught and worried he might not just leave it at that. Why had she been so fascinated with them? She'd been telling him to keep them covered, sure, to not startle unsuspecting humans, but what about herself? She didn't really have an explanation.
Luca frowned, confused by her reaction. "You...weren't hurting me or anything," he said slowly, watching her back.
Awiergan nodded, unsure how that was really supposed to help her at all besides peace of mind. "Good, I'm glad."
She took a sharp breath and turned her head to look at him again, mistaking his frown for something more unpleasant than it actually was. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have without asking."
He shook his head quickly, flashing a smile. "No, no, that's alright," he assured her. "It just surprised me a bit. I didn't realize how sensitive I was there."
"Oh... But it didn't hurt?" For some reason it was important that she clarified that particular point.
Luca grinned reassuringly. "Nope. It just tingled a bit. Kinda warm, actually."
"Huh." She chewed her lip thoughtfully, turning her head again as she pondered what the potential meaning of that might be. "Do you ever feel it in the sea? Or just...on land?" she guessed.
He shook his head again, brow crinkling as he considered that. "I'm not sure, really. I don't think anyone's really shown enough interest in my ears to touch them before," he chuckled quietly.
For some reason she felt a bit better knowing that. Nodding and humming in thought Awiergan leaned back a little again and raised her hand toward his face. "Can I try again? I like it."
"Oh. Uh...sure." For some reason he was blushing, but Luca turned his head slightly to offer her better access, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
With his permission she twisted some in her seat to reach up again. Brushing his hair back, she pressed her hand against it gently before deciding she was more fascinated with the rays and traced her fingers lightly against them. "Sturdier than it looks," she admired.
His ear flickered back and forth under her attention and he felt his cheeks heating at how overly sensitive his skin suddenly was. "Um- thanks?" he chuckled with an awkward little smile
"It's interesting," she decided, shifting her hand yet again to gently grasp it to rub between her thumb and forefinger. "Softer than a fish, but- Hm. Very nice. Not uncomfortable, is it?" Her eyes wandered to his quite obviously flustered face thinking that might have been the reason for it.
His eyes sort of slid half closed and he made a little sound in the back of his throat that was some mix of a purr and a croon as she started to rub his ear.
Very red now, Luca shook his head. "No...no," he murmured, his voice dipping a little lower than was strictly normal. "Feels- kinda good, actually."
"Oh?" She was intrigued by that. Smiling softly, Awiergan shifted her hand a bit to trail the same light rubbing between her fingers down along the length of it.
A shuddering sigh left him and Luca's eyes actually fluttered shut for a moment. Little tingles seemed to be running over his skin, stemming from her touch.
"Um... You seem really interested in them," he mumbled, unable to think of anything else to say.
She flushed slightly for that being pointed out, giving a noncommittal grunt as she continued messing with it. "Should I not be?"
"I- I guess not," Luca muttered, feeling ever more warm and tingly. "Just... I'm not used to it."
"Hmm. Does it bother you that I'm interested?" she asked, allowing her fingers to trail down just behind his ear before coming back up to continue marveling at the softness at her fingertips.
"No." He shook his head slightly. His ear flicked back to press against his skull, then back out again. That purring croon rose up in his throat again and he coughed quietly in an effort to hide it.
The coughing wasn't fooling her, a knowing little smile settling at her lips. It was cute, she decided, unaware that a merman -or anything for that matter- could make such a sound. "Does that...mean you're happy?" she guessed, finally leaving his ear fin alone to press light fingertips to the spot where it seemed to be coming from.
Luca went very still, his chest hitching slightly as he suddenly forgot how to breathe. "Y-yes," he muttered. "It does."
Awiergan smiled broadly, quite proud she'd made him do such a thing. It seemed more than just the simple brush of ears like had happened before.
"I like it," she decided confidently, reaching out suddenly to grab him around the back of the neck and pull him closer. It was an odd angle, to be sure, but she leaned up to press a quick kiss to his lips before pulling away to sit up straight again, hand trailing over his ear one last time as she brought her arm back around.
His eyes went wide and he found himself unable to react for a few moments, just staring at her back.
"Um...Awiergan? What- what was that?" His voice almost squeaked at the end of the sentence and he frowned.
"Hm? A kiss. Did you forget that already?" she teased lightly.
Luca frowned. "That's not what I- Oh."
He eyed her back warily. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"
"Teasing? No." She tilted her head slightly, turning some to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "What would I be teasing you about?"
He narrowed his eyes at her slightly. "Well I know what a kiss is," he muttered. "I was just...surprised. We aren't in water, so it seemed to serve no purpose."
It was still rather nice, but purposeless.
"No purpose? They aren't just for water-breathing," she pointed out as if that should have been obvious. It was fair if his customs were different, though, or if he'd simply never had occasion to kiss anyone.
"It's a sign, too. Of...affection," she explained, flushing slightly even as she tried to remain confident. "And...you looked entirely kissable. So I just had to."
"Affection? Oh. Well...that's rather nice, I suppose." then he frowned, staring at the back of her head in confusion. "What does that mean, entirely kissable?"
"Hm? Oh! Well it just means that you looked like you could use it, I guess." She chuckled softly, amused as she tried to search for the right words. "Just wanted to. You looked...cute," she decided. "Blushing like that. Looked like you were happy."
"Cute," Luca repeated. "Happy. So..." He tried to puzzle through this strange human gesture- well, the gesture wasn't solely human, but it seemed the reasoning behind it varied by species. "If I look happy...I get a kiss?"
Huh. That actually didn't seem like a bad deal.
"Sometimes." She shrugged, uncertain how to describe it in the way that would make sense to him. "If I'm in a kissing mood and you look like you could use one, I guess." It was so open to interpretation, though. She could call just about any look that if she really wanted to.
"Um...okay." That really didn't clear anything up for him and he was still reeling slightly, but he decided not to push her any further. "Well, ah- thank you?" That didn't seem quite right, but he felt like he should say something.
Awiergan hummed thoughtfully, curious and tilting her head to glance back at him again. "What? Why are you thanking me?" she pressed, confused but highly amused that she was being thanked for a completely unsolicited, selfish kiss.
"Well, because...it- it was nice," he mumbled, flushing a bit and ducking his head.
"Oh? Was it?" She couldn't help the proud little smirk, but thankfully she was facing forward again. "So you wouldn't mind another one, right?"
"...No. I wouldn't," Luca admitted quietly, feeling for some reason that he should be embarrassed by that but not quite sure why.
"Hmm. Maybe you'll get another, then," she teased. "Especially blushing like that."
He frowned at that, confused and somehow still blushing. "Does that, the...blushing, have something to do with- entirely kissable?"
"Mhmm. I mean... If it's the same as it would be for a human it just means that you're feeling shy or embarrassed or...flustered. Any of those sound about right?" She thought he surely might know what some of those meant after spending more time on land. She'd done it a bit herself, though she hoped he might not have noticed as much.
"I believe all of those words are applicable currently," Luca grumbled, almost pouting about it.
She couldn't help the short bark of laughter that escaped her for that. "All of them? My goodness," she teased, sighing happily. "Why embarrassed? Too much for you?"
"I just- well, ah..." He glanced away and mumbled, "I'm just...not used to females being- well, sweet. At least not the way you are."
She was surprised but privately happy he seemed to feel that way. "And you're shy because...you aren't used to it?" she guessed.
"Yes. Mostly. I think." He actually wasn't quite sure, and it was making him a little uncomfortable. Luca frowned, considering it.
"Hmm, then why are you flustered?" she wondered curiously.
"I...wasn't sure how to react, I suppose," he muttered, eyeing her almost warily. This seemed like a lot of questions.
It made sense, but Awiergan was still highly amused by it as a whole. "Well perhaps you'll learn in time," she mused.
Luca gave her a rather arch look. "Are you offering to teach me then?" he asked, half teasing.
"Hmm, I probably could. Would you like you to? Learn, that is," she giggled, quite amused by the idea.
"I always want to learn something new," he replied without thinking.
"Guess we'll have to practice later." She'd thought he was curious before, but perhaps not that curious. "But not everything is worth learning, Luca," she warned with a shrug.
"I have yet to encounter a circumstance in which that would be true," Luca commented, not necessarily arguing with her, just stating his own experience.
"Lucky man," she sighed, smiling to herself and settling herself a little more firmly in the saddle. The sun was rather high in the sky but she could still make out something that looked like the top of a building in the distance. Urging Shadow onwards, she had her pick up the pace to a slow trot.
"Perhaps," he agreed quietly, then lurched forward a bit and wrapped his arms around her for some sense of stability as the horse's gait changed.
It took her a while to notice she probably should have mentioned something, but she eventually turned her head to ask, "Still okay back there?"
"Fine," Luca reassured her, relaxing slightly as he grew used to the adjustment. He went from clinging to her waist to just resting his hands on her hips.
It didn't really seem all that odd to her after everything else they'd been through, but she was still pleasantly aware of the contact.
She was quiet until they were approaching the town in the quickly fading light. It was easy enough to find the small inn on the outskirts. She guided Shadow around to the back to a small set of stalls. She didn't exactly trust it if she had a mind to escape again but it seemed sturdy enough to hold her.
"Thank the Gods," she chuckled tiredly, stopping at last and getting down to wobbly legs. She had to grip the side of the saddle to hold herself up as she got her bearings again but eventually offered him a hand.
Luca waved her hand away, then regretted it when he swung out of the saddle and his first step resulted in a rather ungainly stumble. He managed to recover quickly enough, but he was still flushing as he straightened up.
"So...what do we do first?"
She only just barely stifled a laugh at his clumsiness, easily dropping her hand away to let him do it himself. "Well, we'll get her settled." She pat at Shadow's neck and reached to start loosening the girth cinched around her. "Then we can rent a room and get some real food finally." Her stomach gave a growl at that, earning a frown and accusatory glance from her.
"Could you help me get that down?" she asked, gesturing at the saddle once she'd freed it and shouldering her bag a little more comfortably.
"Sure." Still blushing a bit from his klutziness, Luca hefted the saddle down easily and turned to her with a questioning look, unsure what to do with it.
She led the horse into a stall and took off her bridle to give her some reprieve, feeling a bit of comfort for it because of her enclosure. Closing the door she gestured at the empty space beside it. "Set it there." She slung the bridle over the saddle seat and gestured at the ground beside Shadow's new temporary home before turning away to stretch and survey what she could see of the town.
He followed her instructions and moved up to stand beside her, looking around as well. "It's different than the other one," he noted. Not by much, by he could notice some differences.
"Mmm," she hummed tiredly, moving on sluggish feet towards the inn and not really noticing his interest in the town. It simply looked like normal human dwellings to her.
"We'll see about another horse tomorrow," she promised, stepping up to the door and pushing her way inside. The sudden shock of sound from the patrons gathered around the bar gave her a start after so much quiet on the road, but it was almost welcoming to be back among people even if they were grubby strangers.
"I want to eat first," she decided, dragging herself up to the quieter end of the bar to take a seat and try to flag down the barmaid.
Falling into his role of curious puppy, Luca trailed after her and took a seat beside her, still looking around with interest.
"Food sounds good," he agreed with feeling. Most of an apple was really not much in the way of sustenance.
She took the liberty of ordering them both mead. She needed a drink and he'd seemed to like it before, though in her exhaustion she'd forgotten how he'd reacted to it. She contemplated food for a moment, glancing to him as if she might just ask him what he felt like out of politeness before remembering that he didn't really know what anything normal was.
"We'll try the beef, sweetheart," she finally decided, smiling tiredly at the maid to dismiss her before turning towards Luca. "That's cow. Remember?"
"Yes, I remember." He nodded, frowning. "They are...rather large animals. Will we really be able to eat all that?"
Even with the two of them that seemed like a long shot to him.
Awiergan tilted her head slightly in confusion for a moment as she tried to think of why it would be hard for them to eat if they were both so hungry. "Oh. No, no," she chuckled, realization dawning on her.
"We don't eat the animal. Well, we do but just a part of it. A cut," she tried to explain.
"Ah." That made considerably more sense, and he smiled a bit in relief. "Okay then."
She chuckled softly under her breath, reaching out to pat his shoulder. It wasn't exactly his fault he hadn't known.
When the barmaid finally returned with their drinks and food Awiergan was quick to dig into her plate with a gratified hum.
Luca eyed his food for a moment before taking a cautious bite. His eyes widened fractionally and he gave a vaguely surprised but pleased hum. "This is good," he noted, digging in.
Awiergan glanced at him, smiling slightly as she speared a few vegetables to chew and just savoring the warmth of good food in her belly at last. She took a few gulps of her drink before settling in to eat at a slower pace, the initial bite of hunger finally sated. "Very good," she admired quietly, ignoring the hum of conversation around them and the few leers being cast her way for her rather flashy state of dress for the region that singled her out quite firmly as an outsider.
Most of his plate was cleared before it seemed that he remembered to breathe. Without thinking, Luca took a gulp of his own drink, eyes widening slightly when he remembered what exactly this "mead" stuff was.
His eyes flicked around the room as he forced himself to slow down. "Awiergan..." His brow furrowed. "Are people staring at you, or me?"
"Eh?" She raised her head, casting a quick look around and glowering at the eyes she did meet. "I think me," she muttered, shrugging and turning to offer him an exasperated smile and a vague explanation, "It gets old fast, but to them you're just a man."
He frowned. For some reason he felt that he would have been happier if they had been staring at him. "Then why are they looking at you? You're just human to them, too, right?"
She scooted her chair a little closer and bent her head to keep her voice low, "Because rude men stare at what they want. Too inept to just ask when they know they'll be turned away."
"And what they want...is you." Luca's voice dipped almost into a growl as he puzzled that out. He wasn't an aggressive creature by nature, but for some reason that made his blood heat angrily.
The sudden change in his voice surprised her and Awiergan dipped her head to her mug to nurse her drink a bit more as she pondered how to clarify it. "Not me in a...stealing way. They want my body, I guess. For pleasure." Just explaining it made her shiver in disgust, though. She'd done a lot of questionable things in life but a whore she was not. "Some men just see women as another thing to buy. Like a horse. Or a meal," she added, gesturing at their plates.
Luca actually growled now, narrowed eyes darting toward the staring men.
"I think you're right," he muttered, trying to calm himself with a few breaths. "I don't like everything new after all."
Awiergan twisted slightly in her seat, eyes following his to glare at them again before scooting even closer to make it clear they were there together. "Yeah... Not everything's good," she chuckled, shaking her head and trying to ignore the eyes still obviously upon them as she turned back to her meal. "But plenty of stuff is. I'll try to show you that stuff mostly."
"Alright." He reached out and took her hand. He really wasn't sure why he did it, but the gesture made him feel better, even with the lingering stares.
She stilled for the sudden contact and looked down at his hand. Her gut told her to just pull away, but she thought there might have been some reason for it and didn't want to deny him the contact just because she was feeling a little uneasy through no fault of his own. She flashed a faint smile and decided to just let her hand rest in his. Gulping down the rest of her drink before calling for another she noted that she felt a bit flush. But it was probably just the mead.
Following her lead, Luca took another sip of his own drink, relaxing slightly now that he had some contact with her.
"I didn't mind the river, but it might be nice to sleep in one of those bed things tonight," he noted, offering a small smile.
"Yeah?" She raised a brow at that, genuinely surprised. Perhaps it was the lack of seawater, but she'd just assumed he would have been more comfortable spending his nights in water when he could manage it.
"Thought you might have preferred your tail," she muttered thoughtfully, shrugging again and flashing a grateful smile when her second mug was delivered. "But I can't blame you, probably good to take advantage while you can. Beds are comfortable. Much, much better than the ground. And...probably better than the riverbed if it's rocky."
Luca chuckled quietly. "I prefer comfort," he said with a quick grin. "Sometimes that means my tail, sometimes not."
"Fair enough," she chuckled, sour mood slowly fading away between drink and conversation. "Too bad you can't have both, huh? But at least you can choose to have legs when you want them."
He smiled. "Yes, it is rather lucky I suppose. Sometimes I think it's a pity humans don't have a similar option."
"Nah, I'm sure some do. Magic and all that." She waved her free hand vaguely, not really understanding it herself but knowing that great things could be accomplished with great skill. "But not naturally, no. I wouldn't waste your time pitying us, though. We don't even know what we're missing out on." She glanced at him, smiling knowingly. "Well, most don't."
Luca smiled back, eyes glinting. "But you're not most humans," he noted lightly, giving her hand a quick squeeze. "In a lot of ways."
Awiergan hummed in agreement, trying to ignore the little pulse of warmth for the contact. For a moment in her life she contemplated being humble, but that just wasn't her. "Yeah, I know. I'm different. Nobody else like me anywhere," she bragged, the alcohol starting to get to her a bit.
The merman chuckled, taking another sip of his drink and feeling that warm, fuzzy glow start up in his belly again. "I can imagine," he teased, chuckling maybe a little too loudly.
Downing the last of her drink she pushed her empty mugs to the edge of the counter so she could lean against it. Turning slightly in her seat she gave him an appraising look and finally squeezed his hand a little. That same little pulse of warmth ran through her for it, a feeling she decided she liked.
"I hope you know I wouldn't do this with just anyone," she teased, raising their joined hands slightly in indication.
"No?" He gave her a crooked grin and squeezed her hand in return. "Then I suppose I'm honored."
"As you should be!" She laughed, shaking her head and digging through her bag to drop some coin on the counter for their meals before casting a glance around the room. There seemed to be less staring as several of the men had gathered around some of the tables to play some game or another.
"How's about we turn in for the night, hm? Gods, my ass is sore," she chuckled, wincing slightly as she carefully but still quite clumsily hopped down from her seat to wobbly legs.
"That sounds good," Luca agreed with a grin. He kept his hold on her hand as he dropped down from his own seat, cautiously lacing their fingers together.
She had been about ready to slip away from him at last, but she chose to let him have what little comfort he took in staying connected and didn't make a fuss about it. Instead, she just looked down at their joined hands and gave him a playful nudge to his arm as she stepped away from the bar.
She led him through the dark hall that seemed to separate the barroom from the living quarters of the tavern, stopping once she noticed a girl folding linens. She looked similar to the women at the bar so she simply assumed they were related somehow. "Got a free room, love?" she asked gruffly, startling the girl who simply looked between them with wide eyes as she sized up the tall merman.
"End of the hall. On the right," the woman offered, gesturing towards the dark passage.
"Right. Will a few gold cover it?" She was taunting the woman, knowing full well she would simply be pleased they could fill the room for coin at all.
"That'll do, yeah." She held out her palm and after a moment of awkward waiting as Awiergan dug through her bag again closed it quickly once the cold coins were in her hand. "Pleasant evening. Enjoy your stay," she bid them, smiling faintly but quickly turning back to her task as the pirate gave Luca a gentle tug to lead him down the hall.
She glowered at all the things she saw as in her way. The hall was nicely decorated but she just grumbled as she tried her best not to knock into anything by drifting too far towards the wall.
Chuckling gently, Luca offered, "Here, let me lead. I can see better in the dark than you."
Awiergan huffed but fell back just a little to allow him to take the lead. "Can you even tell your left from your right?" she questioned, raising a brow at him as she seriously doubted such a thing.
Luca glanced back to glower at her. "Yes, I can," he sniffed, leading them to the correct down and stopping, looking down at her smugly.
"Ah, very good," she teased, bumping him playfully as she pushed forward to open the door. It was a little smaller than she would have liked but it would certainly do for the night. Loosening her hold on his hand some she set her bag at the door and moved to cross the room so she could finally sit down on something plush and comfortable.
Following after her, Luca plopped onto the bed and let himself go boneless, flopping onto his back. "Comfy," he mumbled, eyes drifting half closed.
Awiergan crawled up to lay beside him, mimicking the way he'd sprawled himself out and breathing a sigh of relief as she just lied still for a few moments. "Much better than the stupid ground." She chuckled quietly and turning onto her side to curl in on herself. "Everything's warm," she cooed.
"Mhm." Turning onto his side as well, Luca shifted so he was cuddled up next to her, giving a contented little sigh and mumbling happily, "You're warm."
"Nah. Think I'm just leeching it from you," she teased, leaning against him to press her back to his chest with a happy little sigh. "Like this." She lifted her legs to clumsily kick off her boots, laughing for no particular reason for the sound of them falling to the floor.
For some reason Luca laughed too, feeling warm and bubbly. He looped an arm around her middle and pressed his nose into her hair. "This is comfortable," he mumbled happy.
"It is," she had to admit, sighing happily for the rare feeling of comfort that came with the contact. She lifted her arm to drape over his own, eyes half closing as she stared out at the rest of the room beyond the bed. "This was a good idea," she murmured, though she wasn't quite sure which she meant by that.
"What? The bed?" He nodded, nuzzling a little closer. "I agree." A moment of silence, then the mead really showed its effects, as his already very faint filter came off and he mumbled into her hair, "You smell nice."
"I smell like leather and horse and sun, don't I?" she complained lightly, wrinkling her nose slightly at the thought. It was an odd combination to call "nice", but she guessed merfolk had a different sense of smell than she did if he was saying that.
"Yes." He let out a quiet breath, ruffling her hair a bit. "But also like you. There's salt and sea and you. It's nice."
"Me," she repeated skeptically, uncertain what he meant by that. "I don't have a scent, is that your merman nose talking?" She giggled at the idea of that, seeming far too silly to be real to her.
"Everyone has a scent," Luca retorted, genuinely confused at her protest to the contrary. "I've spent enough time with you I could probably pick yours out of a crowd by now."
Awiergan tilted her head to look over her shoulder at him, brow furrowed in confusion. "Really? I never- That's not a thing," she accused lightly.
"Sure it is." He blinked at her, apparently utterly bemused. "Can't you humans tell?"
"No... At least, I don't think so? I don't think I can," she muttered, twisting some against him to lean up and sniff at his hair. "I mean...you smell like you but I have to be like this to know," she explained, gesturing at how close they were.
"Huh." He blinked. "Funny little landwalkers. How on earth do you manage to thrive so well with such dull senses?"
"Dull?" She huffed at that, turning to snuggle her back up against his chest again. "I dunno, guess we just...did." She probably should have known the history of it all, but she'd never questioned the senses of humans or thought of them as particularly inferior. It was then that she remembered how he'd offered to lead her in the hall. "Do you see better than me, too?"
Luca shrugged, automatically holding her more securely against him. "Maybe. I don't think it's really much of a difference though, I just see better in the dark."
"Hmm... So even at night? Do you see like it's daytime?" she wondered, trying to work through it in her muddled state.
He gave another shrug. "Not exactly. More like it's dusk, all the time. I'm not really sure how it works," he said with a chuckle.
That didn't really help her at all as she struggled to imagine what that even would be like. "Guess merfolk are better humans than humans are," she murmured. "Besides the whole three days thing."
Luca laughed again, quietly but probably a little too long. "Perhaps," he said lightly, teasing.
Awiergan furrowed her brow at that, noting his laughter and feeling like he was making fun of her a little. Growling low, she flipped herself over to burrow against his chest instead, throwing an arm around his neck and a leg around his waist to pull herself flush against him. "I think I spoke too soon, but you're definitely a good portable fire," she muttered.
Giving a small noise of surprise, Luca froze for a moment, not quite sure what to do. Ten he gradually relaxed, wrapping an arm around her waist and tucking the other under her head. "Am I?" He chuckled quietly. "That seems rather counterintuitive."
"Nuh-uh," she huffed, smiling against him and settling into the comfortable warmth of their awkward hug. "Makes sense. You're warm. You move," she explained decisively.
Luca chuckled again, softly. "I suppose I meant it seems rather strange that a sea creature is a- what was your phrase? Portable fire."
"Oh," she chuckled, nodding against him. "Guess so, but- Well, you are. Probably not what you had in mind coming on land, huh?"
He shook his head, smiling slightly. "No. But then, I don't know if I really had anything in mind when I first decided to come here."
"No?" That surprised her for some reason. It seemed odd anyone might live their life without their own motives. "Didn't you want to see stuff? See more of the human world?"
"Well, yes," he conceded with a chuckle. "But beyond that, I really had no plan. I just...wanted to explore, I guess."
"Well, then," she mused, reaching up to unabashedly brush his hair back and run her fingers gently along his earfin as she had earlier. "Now you can do that and be useful."
A shiver that started with his ear flicking back ran through his whole body and Luca tightened his arms around her briefly. "R-right," he muttered, flushing. It was still strange to him that such a simple touch seemed to make him so sensitive.
Awiergan smirked. She'd expected something like that to happen but was quite pleased with herself that she'd managed to make it happen again. "Am I bothering you?" she drawled, staring up at his face as she continued to pet him.
"No." He frowned, confused rather than irritated. "I'm just...it's an odd feeling."
"What does it feel like?" she wondered, light eyes wandering to study the peculiar appendage, or at least what she could see of it in the dark.
"Um...sort of shivery," Luca replied, ear flicking again as though even her gaze was enough to make the sensitive skin react. "But warm at the same time."
She hummed thoughtfully, lowering her hand slightly to gently roll the edge between her thumb and forefinger again. "I suppose it's a weakness," she mused quietly.
"M-maybe," he muttered, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the way his breath hitched at the touch. "I think we're...more sensitive there than females of my kind. Dominance thing..."
He really wasn't sure why he'd even said that, but he had a sneaking suspicion the mead had something to do with it.
Awiergan tilted her head thoughtfully at that, wondering why that might be."What, so they can pull you around by the ears?" She snickered at the thought, shaking her head but continuing the gentle petting.
"Or maybe it's just an easy way to calm you down if you're angry. Don't think you could put up much of a fight with this. Wouldn't even want to, would you?" she purred.
"Not pulling. Biting," Luca mumbled, eyes fluttering half closed. He vaguely remembered that from his time spent with his parents when he was a youngling.
"We- we're not really supposed to put up a fight anyway...but no, I don't think I would." He tilted his head into her hand slightly.
The piratess grinned for the slight tilt of his head, taking it as her invitation to continue her ministrations. "Interesting," she murmured, leaning in closer to study his delicate-looking ear as if it was her first time seeing it all over again.
"But why aren't you supposed to?" she asked curiously, still not entirely grasping the gender roles of his kind.
"We're just...not," Luca muttered. "I mean...most females aren't too bad about it, but they can get pretty aggressive. Particularly with males they aren't related to."
While it was interesting she still didn't consider that a true answer. "Is it...a law?" she pressed, tilting her head and studying his face curiously.
He shook his head. "Not...exactly. We don't really have laws, there's just- universally understood rules, I suppose."
Awiergan frowned at that, not liking the idea of a bossy mermaid using gentle Luca's ears against him. "I'll kill any bitch that messes with you or your ears," she declared in an angry huff, still petting at his ear though it was almost more to soothe herself from her ruffled feathers.
That earned her a rather startled laugh. "You won't need to," Luca assured her, breifly wondering how he'd ended up as the one trying to soothe in this situation. "I stay out of mermaids' territories when I can help it. And unless I go looking for a mate, that's not likely to change."
She frowned some for that, imagining that he'd be bullied anyway if he sought one out. Who the hell would want that? "Mates don't sound like a good idea," she muttered bitterly, letting her hand fall away at last as she flopped back down to stop staring at his ear.
Assuming she meant that broadly, Luca tilted his head at her. "You don't want a mate then?" he asked curiously. "I mean, I know it's different for humans, but- not ever?"
She gave a grumpy huff, muttering under her breath as she considered it.
"Humans aren't good at that kind of stuff," she decided, though it wasn't really a definitive answer. For some reason the idea of him being even vaguely bullied bothered her. "I meant you, though. You're sweet. And gentle. Bossy mermaids don't deserve nice things."
He chuckled quietly. "They're not all like that," he murmured, giving her a reassuring little smile. "I'd like to think I could find someone who...fit my temperament better."
"You better," she huffed, still inordinately annoyed at the thought of her new friend tying himself to an aggressive female. Why was ear-biting even a thing? She could understand a difference of dominance, but that was just plain savage and rude.
Luca found himself grinning at her, eyes glinting. "Are you...worried about me?"
"What?" She stared at him, wide-eyed and skeptical of the look in his eyes.
"It's kind of hard not to be!" She curled around him a little tighter, thinking that should be a good enough explanation on its own.
He chuckled again, giving her a quick squeeze. "Honestly, Awiergan, I know I seem pretty helpless on land, but I am a grown merman. I can handle myself."
"Still," she grumbled, annoyed that she'd been found out. "Doesn't hurt to have someone looking out for you."
"I could say the same to you," Luca pointed out with a small smile. "You worry too much, my friend. Get some sleep."
"Worrying about you doesn't mean I worry too much," she pointed out, grumbling and turning to bury her face to his chest again. "And I'm not sleepy." Okay, she was, but she was a little tired of him being right about her all the time.
"Yes you are," he laughed, running his hand soothingly up and down her back. "We got the bed so we could get some rest, may as well use it."
"Hmph," she huffed, actions contradicting her attitude as she nuzzled against him and let her eyes close. It was only going to be for a minute, after all, she was just relaxing. "But we just ate. Should let my tummy settle," she complained.
Luca arched an eyebrow. "Is that a thing humans do? Huh."
"Well yeah," she scoffed. "Sometimes. If you eat a big meal. Don't you feel uncomfortable sleeping on a full stomach?" It seemed counterproductive, though, seeing as the warm food and mead were doing wonders as a sleep aid already.
"I suppose," Luca laughed quietly. "Guess I've never been quite that full." He continued to stroke a hand up and down her back, trying to lull her into a doze.
It was working, much as she tried to fight it. "Yeah. Food," she muttered, smiling deliriously and nuzzling into his chest again as she finally was lulled to sleep.
With another soft chuckle, he brought his hand up to rest on top of her head and twined his fingers gently through her hair, enjoying the texture.
Allowing himself to relax, Luca's eyes slid close and he slowly drifted off.
Awiergan remained tangled around him through the night awakening only after a healthy dose of beauty rest. Unlike the previous day she wasn't immediately up and grouchy. Instead, she woke slowly as her senses came to life again.
Finding the warm glow of morning quite offensive to her eyes after peeking out she remained buried against his chest and shoulder, curling up as much as was possible while still clutching him close.
A habitually light sleeper, Luca woke quickly when he felt Awiergan start to stir. Blinking, he tilted his head to look down at her and absently patted the top of her head. "Morning," he said quietly, smiling.
Slightly startled by the touch she ducked down slightly, poised to almost hiss until she realized what she was about to do to whom. "Oh... Morning," she mumbled, feigning a yawn instead nuzzled back against him.
"Sleep good?" she muttered.
"Mhm." Oblivious, he continued petting her hair lightly. "I've never had someone to sleep with before. It was nice," he murmured, smiling at her.
She turned her head slightly to peer up at him for that, tsking lightly. It seemed he hadn't learned his lesson the first time. "Luca, I told you," she chastised playfully. "Sharing a bed. Sleeping with is different."
"Oh. Right." He frowned, still a little confused by that concept and also a little frustrated with himself with forgetting. "Humans makes everything so complicated," he muttering, sighing.
"Not really," she chuckled, nuzzling against him again. "Just different. We have different words for things is all, I think."
Luca grumbled a bit, but didn't argue with that. He sort of hugged her closer, still frowning slightly. "Too early to think about this," he decided.
"Definitely too early," Awiergan murmured, enjoying the rare warmth of the hug as she reached up with a testing touch to twirl a strand of his hair through her fingers.
"You are awfully touchy recently," Luca noted with a small laugh, tilting his head into her hand slightly.
She narrowed her eyes at him for that, tilting her head to peek up at him. "I'm taking advantage. I don't get to do this often. You know... Cuddle."
"Me neither," he chuckled, holding her a little tighter. "Actually, I don't think I ever have. It's...nice."
"Well get used to it," she teased, chuckling softly under her breath. She wasn't quite sure why she'd said that, they'd only spent a couple of nights together, after all, but she had a feeling it could quite easily become a regular occurrence on their journey if he was willing to serve as a body pillow.
"Yes, yes," Luca muttered, smiling softly. "I actually quite like it, shouldn't be too hard to get used to it."
"Hmm. Life is quite simple for you, isn't it?" she observed, admiring it in a way but also curious. How much trouble would he have been in if he'd happened upon someone less understanding?
"It can be," he agreed, though he found his shoulders tensing as he bristled a little defensively.
Being so close she noticed the slight change in him, pausing the play with his hair as her eyes were drawn to his face. "Did that pinch?" she guessed.
"Hm? Oh, no. I'm fine." He smiled reassuringly, forcing himself to relax again.
The pirate gave a disbelieving huff but let it lie. "Good. Cause...I like doing this, too," she admitted, resuming the gentle carding through his hair and twirling the ends around her fingers each time.
Luca tilted his head at her, arching an eyebrow. "My ears, my hair- is there any part of me you don't feel the need to touch?" he teased lightly.
Awiergan snickered at that, certain he didn't understand the innuendo he'd made. "Maybe a few," she teased back, gently scratching at his scalp.
He huffed, almost annoyed that he was enjoying her attentions so much. "I feel like you've made me into a- a pet," he grumbled, half teasing.
"Oh do you?" She laughed softly at that, liking his complaining for some reason. "If you are it's only because you let me," she teased.
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Luca demanded, brow furrowing at her. He supposed he could physically restrain her, but that didn't seem very appealing.
"You do nothing," she taunted playfully. "Good pets don't rebel against their master."
Alright. The idea of restraint was becoming more appealing by the minute. "I'm not a pet," Luca grumbled at her, eyes narrowing.
She shivered slightly, quite liking the little bite to his tone for some reason. "I thought you liked this," she reminded him, chuckling softly as she combed fingers through his hair and purposefully brushed against his ears again.
"W-well, yes," he admitted, shivering slightly at the touch. "But not if it makes me a pet," he added petulantly.
It was probably too mean to keep teasing him with it, but it really was such fun. "Alright, not a pet," she conceded with a rather smug grin. Privately she still felt like she'd won anyway considering how much of a rise she'd gotten out of him.
"Just a man who really, really enjoys this," she murmured, continuing her gentle attentions.
Luca squirmed under her attentions. "I feel like I should be worried about you using this against me," he muttered wryly, giving her a crooked smile.
"And how would I do that?" she pressed, curious what he'd created in his mind about it.
"Afraid I'll have you doing my bidding for a bit of affection?" she teased.
"I'm afraid you'll turn into a mermaid," he teased back, crinkling his nose at her. Well, he was mostly teasing- it was a rather instinctive wariness.
Awiergan rolled her eyes at that. "Don't worry, I'd think the meanness comes with the tail. And I don't have one," she snickered.
"You're still female," Luca pointed out. "Maybe one day you'll decide to embrace my people's way of life," he mused, light and teasing.
She made a playful face for that. "You'd be able to outswim any trouble with me. Humans in the water are very slow- But what? Are you saying I'm no better to you than a mermaid?" she huffed.
He blinked at her. "Not better or worse," he said plainly. "Just different." Brow furrowing, Luca added, "What? Am I not as good as human males then?"
She gave it a moment's thought but eventually just shrugged. "I mean, I think I like you better than humans. Never been able to, um, tolerate most for very long." She wasn't sure what made him different enough for that, though. "You don't annoy me as much."
He huffed a short laugh. "Are you sure that's cause I'm not human? Maybe it's just me," he said lightly, grinning crookedly.
"'Suppose it could be." She'd allow him that at least. "I haven't met every man in the world to say that with certainty, but I'll be sure to tell you once I do."
"Good, please do." He grinned and impulsively dipped his head to rub his nose against hers, playful and affectionate.
Surprised by the sudden touch Awiergan watched him curiously and waited it out through its entirety before she moved to mimic the gesture. "What's that for?" she asked playfully.
"I dunno." He gave her a lopsided grin, eyes twinkling, and used her own words. "You looked like you needed it."
That earned him a rather playfully scolding look as she shook her head. "I guess I earned that," she conceded, a little impressed that he'd managed to get her at her own game.
Her look turned rather thoughtful, though, as she tilted her head to stare up at him. "Playful," she decided quietly. "I like that you're playful. Most men are too serious and rigid."
His lips quirked up in one side. "Is that...also because I'm childlike?" he muttered, a little resigned.
"What?" She blinked at him, shaking her head firmly. "No, not because of that. I guess you can be, but... Well the rest of the time you're still quite playful, I think. It's just very 'you,'" she tried to explain, hoping she wasn't offending him with it.
"Oh."
His expression softened, finding that he actually quite liked that description of she wasn't comparing him to a child.
"Okay then," Luca said happily, rubbing his nose against hers again with a grin.
She chuckled softly, humming for the touch and brushing against his own just as enthusiastically. "What does this mean? For merfolk. Or does it have no meaning?" she wondered.
"Hm? Oh, u don't think it means anything in particular," Luca murmured, thinking it over. "It's just...a sign of affection, I suppose. Familiar but not really intimate." He frowned, suddenly worried he'd done something wrong again. "Is it different for humans?"
"I don't think I can really speak for all humans. Some have different customs, but... I think it may be similar here at least," she decided, "Friendlier than a kiss."
Even saying that, though, her eyes twinkled with mischief as she tilted her head up to brush her lips to his. "Like that."
Luca blinked, once again thrown off guard by his human companion. "You seem to like doing that," he muttered, flushing, and his eyes flicked curiously over her face.
"I might," she teased, leaning away to study the flustered merman. "Do you dislike it?"
"No," he answered, maybe a little too quickly. "It's...rather nice, I suppose."
"You suppose?" -she snickered lightly at that- "Gods you're the world's most apathetic man, aren't you?" she teased, "What a match with playful, hm?"
Luca narrowed his eyes at her. "You're making fun of me again," he accused, mock pouting. "I don't think I appreciate it."
"Making fun of you? Nonsense, Luca. I'm just pointing out your qualities," she tried to assure him, eyes still twinkling in mirth. "Am I wrong?"
"I'm not apathetic," he huffed. "I'm just... temporarily befuddled."
The merman winced. That really wasn't much better, as far as descriptions went.
Squeezing him close for that, Awiergan leaned up to try brushing noses again. "Poor you," she whispered, "All befuddled. Are you always like this on land?"
He returned the touch with a wry little smile. "So far the evidence would point in that direction, yes," he admitted with a chuckle.
"Maybe all the air goes to your head. Or maybe it's just me that gets you this way," she teased, settling back down to press herself close against his chest.
"Someone thinks highly of herself," Luca sniffed, but he was smiling softly. He sort of figured they should be moving soon, but he really didn't want to disturb her.
"With good reason," she protested, quirking a brow at him, "It's as good a guess as any, isn't it? I see no evidence toward the contrary."
Luca mumbled something about "confusing human women" and ducked his head against her shoulder, huffing.
Awiergan just smiled at that, shaking slightly with the effort to not laugh in his face again as she reached out to hold him close. She cradled him against her, petting his hair softly. "It's okay, I know I'm wonderful," she whispered gently, having far too much fun with him to not tease him a little more.
Wriggling away from her, the merman gave her a very dry look. "And oh so modest," he muttered, sitting up and stretching his arms over his head.
"Come on. We should get up, we're wasting daylight." He prodded her side lightly.
She watched him, face falling slightly and grumpy to have her source of warmth yanked away so suddenly. Nodding, though, and sitting up at last she looked around the room in bewilderment. The night before she hadn't gotten much of a chance to see it before collapsing in bed.
"Since when are you concerned about wasting time," she muttered, reluctantly throwing her legs to the side of the bed and gingerly standing with a stretch.
He gave her a crooked grin. "Since the ocean wasn't a simple walk away," he responded, standing and working the kinks out of his neck.
"Still have a couple of days," she reminded him, grabbing her bag and stuffing herself back into her boots at a rather leisurely pace. "And we'll stay near the water anyway." She didn't really see anything to be concerned about with that.
"I hope someone here can sell us a horse, would be faster if Shadow didn't have to carry us both."
Luca blinked. "You mean...I'd ride on my own?" He tried not to sound too worried by the idea.
"Hm?" She turned slightly to look at him, eyes searching his questioningly. "I mean that was our plan, wasn't it? Is there...a problem with that?" It was a guess, but she wasn't sure why he'd even asked the question if there might not have been. "I'll show you how it's done, horses are easy to ride. Super easy."
"If you say so," Luca replied with wide eyes, the skepticism plain in his tone.
Awiergan laughed, shaking her head as turned to head for the door. "You'll see, it really is," she promised, though she truly had no idea how easily he might pick it up even with her guidance.
He followed her, running a hand through his hair in a habitual, nervous gesture and mumbling to himself.
She noticed how he acted weird but she tried to think nothing of it. It was all pretty new for him and she had warned him before that they should probably be doing that anyway. Luca himself had expressed concern over Shadow carrying them both.
Making her way outside she headed around the building towards the stables and was relieved to find the horse where they'd left her and none of their tack stolen. At least the town seemed of relatively honest people.
"Why don't you saddle her up, Luca?" she encouraged, smiling brightly and having full confidence that he could do it alone after only being able to watch her twice.
She pointed down the way at another horse poking its head out at them, a dark bay making eyes at them and tossing his head."I'll see if I can find that one's owner."
"Um...okay," Luca muttered, eyeing the tack and then the mare with trepidation. He easily hefted the saddle and pad, laying them on before eyeing the girth warily.
After a few fumbles, he managed to find the appropriate buckles and string the girth under her belly- not nearly tight enough, but of course he didn't know that. Then came the bridle, which looked to him like a mess of so much leather strings.
Luckily, Shadow was well trained, and she took the bit easily enough. He somehow managed to sort things out from there, with a few hangups in getting the nose and throat band confused.
Awiergan left to approach the other stall once it seemed he would give it a try. The stallion reached for her and she smoothed a hand along his nose as she peeked into the stall. Nobody was there so she rounded the corner to find a pair of men leaned against the wall and talking. She had no hesitation in approaching them but recognized immediately they'd been some of the men staring at her the previous night.
"Morning," she greeted dryly, "Does that horse belong to either of you? The dark one?"
Their muffled words stopped and the shorter one with shaggy brown hair leaned away from the wall, dark eyes studying her with an almost uncomfortable sense of familiarity. "Yeah. What's it to you?" he huffed.
"How much would you sell him for?" She cut in immediately, not wishing to talk to them any longer than she needed to.
The man smirked and shook his head, taking a few steps to approach her, getting right in her face despite the knives prominently strapped to her legs. Her hand immediately went to the one at her thigh but he had the gall to slap her hand away. "What, you think I'm gonna hurt you?" he taunted, enjoying the slight hiss it drew from her.
"I asked a pretty simple question," she reminded him bluntly, choosing to ignore his question. "Was that a no? I'll be on my way if we can't come to an agreement."
"Well I'm sure we can come to an agreement, if that's what you're offering," he drawled. Awiergan visibly flinched at that and took a slow, purposeful step back though she refused to back down.
Shifting awkwardly beside Shadow, Luca's sensitive ears suddenly flicked from side to side. He frowned. That was Awiergan's voice, and though he couldn't make out the exact words her tone set him on edge.
Giving Shadow a pat, he slipped out of the stall and followed after his companion, turning the corner and taking in the situation quickly.
Instinctively, his spine stiffened and he moved up behind the woman. "Problem?" he asked pleasantly, looking down at her with a small smile and trying to pretend the other men didn't exist.
The pair chuckled, casting each other knowing glances before the merman arrived, his presence startling them until they recognized him as the man that had been with her the previous night.
Awiergan herself relaxed considerably with her companion's arrival, though she was a little concerned that he was placing himself so close to a situation she herself deemed mildly dangerous. "No problem, just trying to sort out a price for the stallion," she told him kindly, lifting her head to shoot him a quick smile before turning back to the pair of strangers. "My offer is gold."
"What if I don't want your gold?" He gestured to Luca with a rather smug smile but Awiergan just glowered at him. "We saw you last night. You showed him a good time, didn't you? So how's about you give us a go and we'll call it, oh... Fifty gold pieces on top of that."
She barely kept herself from reaching for her knife again but her rage was quite plain on her face, though she did take a moment to give Luca an apologetic glance. "I'm not for sale. Gold. All gold or there's no deal to be made here, gentlemen."
The merman growled low in his throat, the sound distinctly not human. He wrapped an arm possessively around Awiergan's waist and glared at the two men, though he remained silent.
The pair looked at each other in surprise before glowering at the blond man for his strange noises. The taller one spat, "Hey keep your dog on his leash, would ya?"
She raised a brow at that, glancing down at the arm encircling her but making absolutely no move to remove him. "Not a dog," she corrected firmly, though for Luca's sake she was willing to let their imaginations decide what else he might have been, "But he doesn't appreciate your disrespect. Now, can we work something out for your stallion or shall we move along?"
The shorter man scowled at her, eyes roaming her body openly now that he really had nothing to lose for it. "Touchy bitch," he growled, taking a moment to count in his head before he told her, "Sixty pieces, then."
"Worth less than half a horse to you?" She had to laugh at that, ignoring that he was only propositioning her for a quick fuck, but it earned her the unintended consequence of being seized rather roughly by her jaw.
"No man would pay well for a lousy wench like you," he spat, smirking cruelly even as she shoved his hand away and finally reached to brandish her knife at him in warning.
"Sixty. Tack and all," she told him firmly, eyes burning as she trembled slightly with the effort to ignore what had just happened and not kill him where he stood. The shorter man looked to the taller one, both obviously disappointed they weren't going to get exactly what they wanted out of the deal but eventually shrugging in agreement.
Luca growled again, and when the man grabbed Awiergan he actually snarled, tugging his companion to put her against his side instead of in front of him.
Eyes narrowed, he kept his mouth clenched shut, unused to the completely unbridled rage coursing through him. Vaguely, he realized he wanted to hit something- preferably someone, but he managed to rein himself in.
Awiergan nodded, glancing to Luca and reaching cautiously with her free hand to pat his shoulder in reassurance before she sheathed her knife. Turning to rifle through her bag she quickly counted out sixty, shoved them in a purse, and practically threw the bag at the shorter man in disgust.
He muttered some other insult but she was already turning to head back around the corner and throw a fist at the wall next to the stallion's door. The animal squealed in surprise and retreated back into his stall entirely for the rattling of the frame. "Disgusting," she hissed, shaking her hand out and wincing at the sting of the scrapes it had earned her across her knuckles.
"Fucking shit," she muttered, angry but trying to move on as she bent to grab the saddle on the ground.
Luca wavered, glancing between Awiergan and the two men. Then his companion hit the wall and his snarl was back. He'd seen her put up with a lot- from him, but still- and never snap like that.
Whirling, he snarled at the men and ground out, "Come near her again and I'll rip your throats out." It wasn't an idle threat, which actually even surprised him a bit. He bared his teeth- canines long and sharp- to emphasize the point, then followed Awiergan.
"You alright?" he murmured quietly, taking her hand and frowning at the scrapes.
The men had stared at him, noting the oddities that marked him as certainly not human before they shuffled along to head back indoors. They didn't truly want a fight but it seemed together the pirate and the merman might actually be willing to make good on their threats.
"I'm fine," she growled, glancing at him with a frown of regret as the bite to her tone wasn't for him at all. She turned her head away, wincing as he took her hand but allowing him to look at it as she held the saddle and blanket up with her other hand, too stubborn to drop it.
"Just- I just fucking hate people like that," she grumbled. "Like I'm some slave that has no right to deny them. Disgusting pigs."
Frowning, Luca bent and dragged his tongue lightly over the scrapes to her hand. "Should help this heal faster," he murmured by way of explanation, glancing up at her worriedly.
"They're gone now," he muttered, brow furrowed. "Just- don't think about them anymore."
She wanted to ask how he could be so sure but even as he spoke she could feel the pulsing pain gradually fading already.
"Right," she sighed, glancing towards the tavern worriedly before shaking her hair out a bit and returning her attention to him.
"You didn't have to step in, you know. They could have hurt you," she warned, fumbling with the door to the stall and hurrying in to start saddling her new, nameless horse.
He glowered. "I- I wasn't going to. Then he grabbed you and-"
His voice cut off in a low growl, the predatory sound making the horse shift uncomfortable. Taking a breath in an effort to calm himself, Luca muttered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...make things worse."
She paused, waiting for the horse to settle a bit before she continued her work, scooping up the girth to begin cinching it after giving the stallion a few reassuring strokes to his neck. "Don't be sorry, you didn't do anything wrong exactly, I just- Wouldn't want to see you hurt if things escalated," she admitted.
"Some people like that... They don't care who they hurt to get what they want." Awiergan sighed, shaking her head and trying to put it from her mind like he'd told her to. It was a decent idea, after all.
He wasn't a fighter by nature, but Luca's hackles were still raised. "I wouldn't have been the one hurt," he grumbled, folding his arms and scowling. "They were practically begging me to bite."
She couldn't help but laugh at that, looking at her rapidly-healing hand in amazement and then to the ruffled merman with an affectionate smile. "I'm sure you could have bitten them good for all that," she assured him, "but just be careful, Luca. Teeth aren't the only weapons in the world." She pat at the knife at her thigh before reaching to strap the bridle to the stallion's head.
He was a good deal fussier than Shadow, tossing his head a bit to avoid her hands but she eventually got him to bow his head through the leather contraption. "Did you need any help with her?" she asked, glancing at the wall that separated them.
"No. She's been good." Luca smiled slightly and patted Shadow's neck, taking the reins to lead her out of the stall.
She watched over the stall door and tried not to chuckle for the obvious mix-ups she saw. "Oh no," she sighed goodnaturedly, hurrying out to stop him so she could fix the bridle and tighten up the saddle that was slowly sliding to the poor mare's side.
"Very patient horse," she praised, shaking her head with a smile as she gave the saddle a pat. "I think that'll be alright, though. Want to try getting up by yourself this time?"
Blushing at his mistakes, Luca cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah. Think I can manage that," he muttered. With some trepidation, he planted his foot in one stirrup and swung up onto Shadow's back. It wasn't as graceful as it could have been, but ha managed to stay on.
Awiergan watched him, smiling in encouragement once he was up. "Good," she murmured, reaching up to hold the reins slightly for demonstration. "You can give her cues with these and with your legs. Pull back means slow. Pull to one side or the other to turn her. Don't do it yet," she warned, "but give her a nudge with your legs to have her go faster."
She turned to open the stall door for the new addition to their party and lead the stallion out to mount up as well. She took a few moments to adjust her pack but eventually turned to Luca with a bright smile. "We can go slow today, let you get used to it," she offered.
"Alright." He nodded, determined, and flashed a quick smile at her. "Let's get going then."
She shot him a wry smile for his apparent confidence, glad she at least didn't have to coax him into it like a child.
"Shadow be good to him," she chastised gently, reaching out to ruffle the horse's mane before nudging her own mount forward. The stallion was a bit headstrong, pushing ahead a bit even though she kept a firm hold on the reins. Once he settled, though, she turned him towards the road that continued to curl west along the river as they headed out of the town.
Cautiously and a little sloppily, Luca got Shadow to follow them. It was a good thing the horse was well trained, and patient. "What are you going to call him?" the mermaid asked, nodding at the new horse.
She relaxed a bit once she saw that, at least for the moment, he was able to ride. Patting at the stallion's neck she furrowed her brow in thought. "I think it would be a little mean to name him after his owner, yeah? Or previous owner." She shook her head, chuckling softly as she thought on a few rather unsavory names she could have given him.
The merman nodded, chuckling. "Not his fault they were-" his voice changed into that creaking, moaning language for a word or two, but his tone implied it certainly wasn't a compliment.
Eyes widening as she tried in vain to stifle her laughter, Awiergan nodded and struggled to speak through it, "Uh-huh. That. Whatever that was. Yes. Oh gods." She set a hand to her side, already preparing for the stitches like the previous day.
The horse tossed his head a bit, shying slightly for the sudden sounds above him. That got Awiergan to calm enough to try and reassure him and rein him back in.
Luca gave her a crooked smile as she brought the horse back under control. "I'm not sure human have a word that quite translates," he admitted.
"That's alright," she sighed happily, flashing him a bright smile. "Your...language is funny."
"It is?" He frowned. "Why? What's...funny about it?"
"Sounds funny," she corrected with a grin. "Not like Common. At all. Sounds like an animal almost?" She winced at that, hoping he wouldn't find it offensive.
Luca nodded. "Oh." He gave a little shrug. "Well, I suppose it only makes sense. It's how we can communicate with the more intelligent sea creatures, has to sound a t least a little like them.
"Don't get me wrong, it's impressive! Just different. Strange to hear," she tried to explain, laughing softly and turning to give the stallion a few thoughtful strokes along his neck.
"I think I'll call him Atlas. Attie." She crinkled her nose at the nickname she'd already decided upon.
He glanced at the horse and nodded. "Hello, Atlas."
The horse didn't even acknowledge their talking, completely unaware of the name he'd been given. He was still rather energetic and pushy, though, and Awiergan kept having to slow him every time he tried to take off on her. It wasn't difficult for her to fight him but she did worry about spooking Shadow as the fussy stallion refused to walk and pranced along down the road instead.
"How're you holding up?" she shot back at him over her shoulder.
"Oh, fine!" Luca called back. His seat was rather terrible, but thankfully Shadow didn't seem too bothered by it. Perhaps she was used to beginners.
She was somehow a little surprised to hear that, though she was glad it happened to be the case. "Is it any easier for you than just holding on? I know it's a lot to handle."
"As long as we're not going to fast, this isn't too bad," Luca replied, rather chipper, flashing her a quick grin.
"I'll try to keep it that way, then," she promised, circling Atlas back around them and pulling him up to walk beside the calm mare. "He just wants to run."
"Well, if you'd teach me how to do that, maybe Shadow and I could try to keep up," Luca mumbled, the idea clearly making him nervous.
Awiergan frowned at that, studying his -terrible- posture in the saddle. "I don't really know how to teach you," she admitted with an apologetic smile.
"I kind of just...learned through practice. Takes balance. You could start by putting your legs back a bit," she suggested.
"Oh. Okay." Luca nodded and did as she suggested. Amazingly, the subtle shift seemed to correct most of his posture, bringing his hips properly in line with his shoulders.
"Huh." He blinked, feeling the change and settling more comfortably on the saddle.
She kept an eye on him, smiling faintly once she saw a noticeable reduction in the way he bounced in the saddle. "Smoother, right? Now the trick is staying mostly like that. Ride with your hips instead of your legs." The pirate made a face, though, uncertain if he even understood what she meant by that.
He nodded again, brow furrowed in concentration, but he thought he was getting the hang of it, eventually able to lift his eyes to flash her a quick smile.
"Good," she praised softly, nudging the stallion into a trot to slowly put a little distance between them. "Feeling brave enough for this?"
"Uh. Sure." He remembered that from the previous day. A little warily, he nudged his heels against Shadow's sides and clicked softly, like he might to a dolphin, and she picked up an easy trot.
Awiergan studied him, impressed that he at least seemed to be able to do it even if it wasn't the smoothest transition in the world. "How does that feel?" she wondered. "Too bumpy?"
Luca shrugged. "A little, but I can handle it."
"We can stay like this, then," she decided, watching his posture carefully but gradually relaxing into their pace as they went along.
The merman nodded, settling into the pace and even cautiously leaning forward to pat Shadow's neck. He started to pay more attention to their surroundings, curious now that he was feeling more comfortable.
Awiergan was unaware of his curiosity, content to ride in silence as the need to babysit his every move lessened and she found herself staring out ahead of them instead.
"Where are we now?" Luca asked suddenly, looking over at her. "Where are we going? I mean- inland, I know, but where specifically?"
"Hm? Oh, still Summervale, I'd guess. Far too rugged for Kia's Court." She chuckled softly and gestured at the road ahead with a jerk of her chin. "We'll be there once we cross the border, shouldn't be much further. And then I can show you Arca. It's a city," she explained, "and there's quite a lot to see there, I think you'd like it. Lots of people, lots of magic."
"A city," Luca repeated. "Those are...like the places we've been, right? Towns? But bigger?"
"Yeah!" she answered eagerly, happy he'd caught onto that. "Definitely bigger. But, um, they have more...sophistication. Everything's just better." She winced at that, knowing it was a pretty poor explanation.
"It's a hub, I guess. People from all over visit it, and it's really quite beautiful."
"Okay." He nodded yet again "How far, do you think?"
She shrugged at that, truly uncertain of an exact distance. "Maybe a couple more days. Gives you time to get used to this, though, yeah?" She gestured at him atop the mare.
He shrugged, smiling and nodding. "I suppose." There was a niggling doubt in the back of his mind, a worry of what might happen the further he got from the ocean, the longer he stayed away. He pushed the thought aside, shaking his head.
"No suppose," she demanded playfully, completely oblivious to his worries, "You'll do it and you'll like it."
Luca rolled his eyes. "Yes, ma'am," he chuckled, shaking his head at her.
"Much better," she purred, cracking a wry grin as she whispered, "Good pet."
He scowled at her, grumbling, "I'm not a pet."
Awiergan sighed, pouting slightly since he seemed unwilling to even allow it playfully. "Fine. No pet. What would you call yourself?"
Luca shrugged, ducking his eyes. "A...friend?" he offered, voice a quiet mumble as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
She hummed thoughtfully, reflecting on it for a moment before she turned to him again with a smile. "Yeah, guess so. Just sounds weird to say that word," she admitted sheepishly. "Don't have many."
A smile spread across his face and he glanced up at her, eyes glinting happily. "Ne neither. But I think I like it."
At least it seemed easy to keep him happy, it certainly wasn't any extra work on her part to go along with it. "Honestly never would have thought that. Well, before. Feels weird to care about someone," she admitted with a chuckle.
Luca chuckled, shaking his head. "You know, I think you're more like my kind than you want to admit, Awiergan." She had a very merfolk view about relationships.
"Really?" She tilted her head at that, eyeing him curiously. "How so?"
He shrugged. "You're...solitary. And rather fierce. Kinda like the females of my kind."
Awiergan thought on that, frowning slightly. "Well, it's more out of necessity than desire," she said slowly. "Some humans don't share nicely." She didn't realize how much she was contradicting herself, though, especially with how much she'd shared with him lately.
"Still..." Luca shrugged again. "I believe we're more alike than I may have originally thought. Your kind and mine, I mean."
"Ah... Yeah. Yeah we're probably pretty similar," she agreed. "I mean we must be, right? Similar bodies, similar minds. Maybe just different goals, but...I think it's good to have a friend on the 'other side.'"
He grinned at her, nodding happily. "I think so too."
Awiergan settled into companionable silence, content to continue along so long as their mounts were happy to stay steady at their pace. With the afternoon sun high in the sky Atlas finally seemed to be calming down, the stallion taking her cues to ease down to a walk once she asked.
"Still comfortable?" she prompted, glancing to the merman. "I was thinking of taking a bit of a rest, if you're feeling up for it. This area seems...kind of familiar."
Luca nodded quickly. "Yes. I mean, I'm alright, but a rest would be good."
"Just a short rest," she assured him, smiling faintly as she turned her mount to veer off the path and head down towards the river.
Dismounting at the bank, she clutched the reins in one hand and immediately knelt to get a drink of water. Atlas followed suit, the stallion playing with the running water a bit as he drank. Awiergan made no move to help Luca on her own, just assuming he would be alright since he'd been managing.
Luca steered Shadow to follow her and dismounted- still rather ungraceful, but at least he managed to keep his footing. He knelt to drink, loving the feeling of running water trailing over his skin.
When she'd had her fill Awiergan moved to plop herself down on the bank, slightly startling Atlas in the process. She shot him a look and reached up to pat at his shoulder a bit as she murmured, "Settle."
Turning to look up at Luca she asked, "How are you feeling? Still sore?"
"Yes." He grinned at her, settling on the bank as well. Shadow snuffled at his shoulder, probably looking for treats. "It's alright though. I'm getting used to it."
Awiergan chuckled at that, still amazed that the merman seemed so cheerful about everything even if the experience earned him some discomfort. "Well at least you're honest. I swear it gets easier. Kind of just...have to let your body get used to it, you know?"
She reached out to stroke along Shadow's cheek and ruffle her forelock. "She treating you well? Not too difficult?"
"She's fine," Luca chuckled, patting the horse's neck before leaning back a bit, letting his head tilt back and closing his eyes for a moment.
"Well she looks fine," the pirate agreed, shaking her head gently. "I meant you though Mister Sore Legs."
He grinned at her. "I'm alright too. I think the soreness is getting better."
Awiergan stared at him skeptically, somehow expecting to hear something entirely different. "Oh... Well that's...good? Yeah, good. Guess you get used to it fast."
She flashed him a quick grin, happy at least that he didn't seem miserable. "Did you want to spend another night in the river before we head north? There's still water there, but...well not as much."
Luca nodded. "I probably should then," he murmured, eyeing the river.
She followed his gaze, humming in acknowledgement. "We can keep going, though, could do that later," she prompted , reaching out to pat his shoulder. "Unless you'd rather stop early today."
"Oh no, I can keep going!" Luca beamed at her, getting to his feet and patting Shadow's neck.
Awiergan smiled slightly for his enthusiasm, climbing to her feet after him and reaching to steady herself against her own horse. Swinging up into the saddle again she held Atlas back, waiting patiently for Luca to get settled. "Just a couple more hours, I think. Don't want them to get too tired."
He nodded and vaulted up onto Shadow's back, patting her neck again as he urged her into a walk.
"Come on, Attie," she whispered, urging the stallion onward and back up toward the path alongside Shadow. "You know I'm surprised you're so...balanced. You don't have legs very often but you're flexible." No, that wasn't the right word. "You...adapt," she tried instead.
"I'm good at that," Luca said, grinning. "Not sure if it's a merfolk thing or a- me thing, but I am."
"I'd like to think it's a you thing," she admitted with a lighthearted laugh and a wink. "Seems more special that way."
He blushed a little happily at that, giving a small smile in her direction. "You adapt," he pointed out. "At least, I assume you do. You travel a lot, so you must be used to molding yourself to new places."
"I do that a lot, I guess... But it isn't the same. You're so different and I'm just moving from place to place," she explained with a thoughtful look.
"I mean I grew up here: on the land, in this kingdom. It's kind of just...my nature to keep moving. So I do it. I guess I just...admire how you deal with something that isn't in your nature?" She laughed at that, shaking her head. "I mean I assume it isn't in your nature to spend so much time on land or ride a horse or be so far from the sea even."
"It's probably not," Luca agreed with a small chuckle. "But...well, it's also in my nature to be curious. I guess that's why I...adapt."
"Still special," she insisted. "You said so yourself that you're up here more than the others, right?"Awiergan tilted her head from side to side in thoughtful silence for a moment. "Maybe you're just a little different. In a good way?"
He shrugged, ducking his head. "Yeah, maybe." He shrugged. "I don't know about good, but I think I'm probably different than the others."
"Well I think it's good. The way you describe the others isn't exactly...the best." She shook her head, smiling slightly as she thought about what he'd told her and all the other things she'd ever been told about his kind.
"Hm?" Luca tilted his head at her. "What? You mean the females?" He shrugged again. "They're not so bad, really. It's just...in their nature, I suppose."
Awiergan shook her head, frowning some as she tried to think of how to rephrase her question. "Not that exactly, just- How you don't mind being on land, I guess?"
Head still tilted in a puppyish sort of manner, he said mildly, "No, I really don't mind. I mean, I've never gone so far inland, so...I suppose we'll just see."
"Your opinion of the land world might change once you see the cities." She laughed softly, shaking her head but hoping it wouldn't be too traumatic for him.
"Are they really so bad?" Luca mumbled, starting to get a little nervous at the prospect.
"No, not bad. Just very different. A lot of people," she told him vaguely, not knowing how else to describe it in all its grandeur.
"Oh." He relaxed, smiling. "That sounds alright. As long as I don't get lost," he joked.
"I'm sure you won't. As long as you don't wander off, I'm sure I can figure out where things are, more or less, but- Well, it's been a while since I visited. Probably hasn't changed too much, though."
"I guess I'll just have to stick with you then." Luca grinned. "Damn. I had planned to lose you in the crowds, but it seems like I don't have much choice."
Awiergan briefly stuck her tongue out at him in a rather childish display. "No, you have no choice in it. You must stay with me or I'll never forgive you."
Luca chuckled. "Well, if that's the case, I suppose I really must stay with you," he teased lightly.
"That's right," she huffed, though she smiled pleasantly for his playfulness.
"You have not seen me truly angry yet, Luca," she warned teasingly. "I'd hate for that to be directed at you."
"Well now, what could I possibly do to make you angry?" Luca teased back, giving her a crooked smile.
"What you just promised not to do. Lose me. So we shouldn't have a problem." She shrugged, but her eyes still danced with mirth.
"What if I just get lost?" the merman whined dramatically. "That's not my fault. You can't be mad at me for that, right?"
"And how would you get lost if you stay with me?" Awiergan raised a brow at that, not understanding how in the world they could be separated if he just did as he was told. He was tall, she doubted she'd ever accidentally lose him in a crowd.
"I dunno." He shrugged. "I'm not attached to your skirts, Awiergan." He didn't actually know exactly what that phrase meant, but he'd overheard some human women using it. "I might see something that catches my interest and...wander off."
She shook her head and did a pretty poor job of stifling a short bark of laughter at the idea. "Then I suppose you get whatever's coming to you for it," she teased lightly, imagining he'd probably get himself into a bit of trouble however he managed to "wander off."
Luca wrinkled his nose at her laughter. "You're making fun of me again," he accused, patting Shadow's neck absently.
Once she'd calmed down from it she insisted, "No, not making fun, just...the world is big and full of unpleasant things and unpleasant people. Makes sense you'd probably find some of that if you wandered off, but you're certainly free to leave anytime. Without Shadow, though. I did pay for her after all."
"Well, then I suppose I'm stuck here." Luca grinned, patting the horse's neck again. "Can't leave Shadow now, can I?"
"I hope not, she's a good horse. Seems pretty attached to you," she teased lightly, though her eyes softened as she tilted her head to look down at the mare's eye. She did seem like a sweet animal. At least she was calmer than Atlas, but Awiergan was confident she was a good match for Luca anyway for how little fuss they'd gotten from her.
"I think I'm getting attached to her too," Luca said with a smile, scratching at the ridge of her mane.
Awiergan smiled subtly, genuinely happy for him as she watched them. "That's good. Animals can be good friends, too. Sometimes better than humans." She laughed, shaking her head with a knowing sigh at that.
"You always say things like that," Luca noted, "but you're a good friend."
Her eyes softened slightly at that and she shot him a playful wink. "Glad you think so, but I only meant it as a...general thing. A lot of humans are shitty people." She chuckled, reaching out absently to smooth the stallion's mane over his neck. "Animals have much less drama."
He shrugged, not really sure he could argue that, mostly through lack of personal experience.
Awiergan merely hummed to fill the silence, suddenly a little uncomfortable in it knowing she had company. "You said merfolk don't keep pets?" she asked conversationally, truly not remembering if it had been that or the entire opposite.
"Mhm." Luca nodded. "I don't think we even have a word that really translates the concept. It's...sort of strange to us to keep other sentient creatures that way," he said innocently.
"Is it a bad thing? It's not like you're keeping them against their will," she protested gently, not really seeing his reason as a particularly good one. "Could always run away. Or swim away, I guess."
"Well, like I've said before- we're not really all that social to begin with. I guess...it's just not something we think to do," he said absently, shrugging again.
"Oh... Well, more for the rest of us." She sighed, thinking it a little odd considering how similar they were. Humans used other animals for all sorts of work and she just couldn't fathom a world where that wasn't the case for someone who looked so similar.
"Maybe you'll change your mind once I get a dog," she teased, still uncertain if she would actually go through with finding a puppy to take along. It was a tempting idea at least. "It can be more like a...partnership than ownership."
Which of course sparked the question, "What's a dog?" He couldn't remember if that was one of the animals she'd pointed out or described to him before.
"Um, the land-dolphins?" Well, it was the best way she knew how to describe the general personality. "But they're furry and a lot smaller than dolphins. I'm sure we'll see plenty, just not generally something you see away from the city. Or at least people's homes," she explained, gesturing to the path ahead as if it should be obvious that they weren't near enough to any and their chances of seeing a dog wandering the road were slim.
"Oh. Right." He still couldn't quite picture that. Ah, well, Awiergan seemed pretty confident that they'd come across one sooner or later.
She watched him, hoping a lack of questions meant he understood her well enough. "Just...don't be afraid when you meet one, I guess. They have sharp teeth but most are pretty harmless."
Luca smirked at her. "I have sharp teeth too," he reminded her, flashing his lengthy canines in a wide grin. A little more seriously, he added, "I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Well hopefully they'll see yours are bigger and not mess with you," she teased lightly. "Some of them are...snappy, is all."
"So are sharks," Luca laughed, "and I've never had too much a problem with them. It'll be fine, you worry too much."
"You're mistaken," she scoffed, shaking her head and trying to pretend she wasn't as concerned for his well-being as she actually was. "I'm just warning you so you don't come crying to me when you get yourself bit."
The merman chuckled and shook his head. "Noted," he said with a crooked smile. Sobering a bit, he added, "I'll be careful, Awiergan. You don't need to worry about me so much."
She rolled her eyes, groaning her displeasure at being painted in such a way accurate as it was. "Shut up, I'm not worried." She shot him a questioning look, giving him a quick once over.
"There's nothing wrong with preparing you mentally" -she tapped at her temple- "when you've never seen some things before. I'm sure you can take care of yourself. Giant fishman," she muttered the last.
Luca laughed outright, patting Shadow's neck when the sound seemed to startle her. "See, now I'm not sure which part of that was supposed to be the insult," he said lightly. "Giant or fishman?"
"Both... I guess they weren't very good ones," she admitted, shaking her head and scowling at the road ahead. Clearly he was having far too much fun at her expense.
He shrugged, still grinning. "Well, I'm not particularly insulted. They're both true, and there's really not a whole lot I can do about them."
Awiergan shot him a pointed look and sighed in defeat. "I wasn't exactly trying to insult you, I guess," she muttered, "just pointing out that I think you can protect yourself pretty well. It's a good thing. I need tools for that."
"Sure I can protect myself!" The merman puffed his chest up in overly dramatic pride. "Can protect you too, if I have to," he added, eyes glinting.
The pirate rolled her eyes at that, though she smiled for his obvious confidence. "I'm sure it won't come to that," she teased.
Luca suddenly frowned. "It almost did before," he muttered. "When you were buying Atlas." He'd only been a few moments away from pouncing on those men.
Awiergan huffed her displeasure at the reminder. Mind, not at him, but she still had quite a chip on her shoulder that she'd ever gotten rattled at all by the whole affair.
"Almost, but didn't," she pointed out, smiling the thanks she didn't voice. "Would you have...killed them?"
His frown deepened. "I...I don't know," he realized, eyes widening a bit. "I'm not really- I've never actually killed before..."
Females were usually the ones who hunted, Luca and his fellow males would just eat what they could scavenge from wrecks, or fish, usually. He'd certainly never even had a remote desire to kill out of anything other than hunger before.
She nodded, that fact easy enough to accept about her fellow man at least. "It isn't something that normally happens," she offered with a shrug, though her lips slowly curled into a playful smile.
"I could have done it if we really needed it, but I think you scared them good enough."
"Good." Luca huffed, still scowling a bit. "I hope they stay scared," he muttered.
She struggled to stifle a laugh at how serious he looked. "I'm sure they'll remember you for all the wrong reasons," she assured him, unable to keep herself from being playful with his still.
He huffed, heedless of her teasing, and muttered, "They'd better." He shook his head, expression changing to one of almost bafflement. "I just don't understand how they could be so- so awful to you. Didn't their mothers teach them better?"
Respect for females of his kind was so close to instinctive that any other behavior was confounding to him.
Awiergan hesitated for a moment, uncertain if she could continue to fuel his fire. "It might not be the fault of their mothers," she offered with a shrug. "It is just that way for many men. Women are property or conquests. It is just in their nature to look down on us. Not all, of course, but plenty for that to hold merit."
"That's just wrong," Luca said decisively, still frowning.
She hummed, frowning to see him still so obviously disturbed by it. "I agree, but I doubt they'll change their ways."
He shook his head, wanting to say more but smart enough to realize that there was really nothing productive he could actually say.
That didn't stop him from grumbling curses in merfolk under his breath.
"What is that?" she asked, tone playful in an attempt to keep the mood light. He was obviously still a little ruffled.
"What?" Luca glanced at her. "My language?" He shrugged. "Just...some more not so polite things."
She nodded, staring at him expectantly. "About me? Or-?"
"Hm- oh, no." He chuckled and shook his head. "Not you, other humans," he assured her with a quick smile.
"Right... What kind of not so polite things?" she pressed, far too curious for her own good and expecting it to be some sort of insult to humanity at large if he was hesitant to tell her.
Luca tilted his head. "I'm...not sure that humans have words that really translate," he muttered, frowning a bit as he thought.
"Oh." She sighed in disappointment but waved a hand dismissively, not wanting to bother him with it if that was so.
Glancing at her, Luca started to offer, "Do you...want me to..." He bit his lip, then flashed a quick smile and just finished, "I could try to teach you, if you'd like."
"Teach me?" Awiergan's eyes widened in surprise. "I mean, is that even possible?" She was curious about it but also skeptical that she would be able to learn such a thing.
"I'm not sure, honestly." He shrugged and grinned, adding brightly, "But we won't know until we try, right?"
She nodded, smiling faintly at his optimism about at least trying. "Okay..." She took a deep breath, pondering it. "Start with something simple, maybe? I mean I doubt there's a word for horse, but- Maybe you? Merfolk? Is that word different?"
Luca nodded, grinning, rather excited that he would have the chance to teach her something for a change. "Mhm. It's our word for "people" or "person" too." He gave a soft click followed by a sort of humming croon, slowly, as he would if he was talking to a child. "You try."
Awiergan watched him intently, studying his face as he gave her the example. She tried to mimic him, her click louder than necessary and her hum a little lower. It stopped short, though, her face twisting into a grimace as she accidentally tickled her throat with it. "Bleh... Was that okay? Did I say it wrong?"
The merman started laughing. He couldn't help it. "No- no, it was understandable," he assured her, chuckling, eyes glinting. "It's just...I've never heard someone speak merfolk with an accent before. It's kinda funny."
"An accent?" She wrinkled her nose at that, not seeing how she could have an accent with sounds like that. "Too much land?" she guessed playfully, waggling her eyebrows at him.
"Something like that," Luca agreed with a chuckle, nodding at her. "Merfolk would understand you though, so it's not that bad," he then added quickly, not wanting her to feel bad about it.
She hummed, thinking on it for a moment. "Tell me something else?" she asked eagerly.
"Um...okay." He tilted his head, thinking, then made a low moaning sound deep in his chest that rose up to a sort of squeak at the end. "That's a greeting. Well, it's how males greet females. Mermaids do sketching else among themselves, I've never quite understood it."
Awiergan huffed, smiling and trying not to laugh at how silly it sounded to her. She tried to mimic it but once again came up short as the vibrations tickled her throat and she coughed, startling Atlas a bit.
She patted at his neck apologetically. "Is um... Is there a better way? A way that females greet males, maybe?" she asked.
He gave her a lopsided grin. "Just by our names, usually. But merfolk is funny, it's a combination of those types of words and what I believe humans call Common." He shrugged. "Females usually don't bother addressing males they don't know. We get introduced, and if they want to bother talking they just use our names."
She nodded in confirmation that the language was Common, understanding that and grateful for some reason she hadn't been doing it all wrong. "Well that's good, what other words do you use? You know, that are words? Um, not sounds?"
Luca considered that. "Names, usually," he mused. "And anything not really related to the sea. Sometimes we sort of combine them though, Common and Merfolk I mean."
Awiergan nodded, interested but not really knowing much about what that really meant. "Do other, um... Do animals understand it?" she wondered.
"Mhm." He smiled and nodded. "That's how I called those dolphins. Like I said, they don't quite understand some of the more nuanced things, but they can get general ideas."
"Well that's useful." She chuckled, almost wishing the same were true with land animals. She could definitely see how that would have its uses. "Do you...talk the same way with your kind? What would you even talk about if you saw someone else? Fish?"
Luca chuckled, "Well, sure. We could. Or good hunting grounds, or strange changes in currents. Or anything, really." He arched an eyebrow at her. "We're not that different from humans, you know."
Awiergan shrugged, smiling coyly. "You are! Well, some. I don't really talk about those things with humans, not much at least. It's a pretty big difference if you ask me."
"Well, what do humans talk about then?" Luca asked with curious tilt to his head.
She pondered that for a moment, knowing her personal choices would probably be very different from the population at large. "News, I suppose. And local things...events, I guess. I suppose a bit about the local hunting if that's your thing, but not everyone hunts," she tried to explain.
Luca shrugged again. "That's not so different from us then. Just...land news instead of ocean news."
"Ocean news," she chuckled, shaking her head. "Seems so odd to me, but I guess the same can be said for you on land, yeah?"
"Right," he agreed with a nod and a smile. "See? Not so different."
"Mmm." She hummed happily, unable to hide a genuine smile as she reflected on it. Truly there didn't seem to be many differences, other than those that came from their obviously different backgrounds.
"I always thought mermaids -or, um, merfolk- I always thought you were just...dumb, mindless beasts," she admitted, smiling apologetically. "From stories, but... You're actually very smart."
He huffed a little indignantly at that, but bit his tongue to keep from giving a sharp reply, instead muttering, "I hate to think what sorts of stories you heard to come to that conclusion."
Awiergan winced at his tone but shrugged, not really knowing how to describe it well without insulting him further. "Not a conclusion so much as...that's what they said? Um... Just that your kind only lived to be the downfall of the weak," she said, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "Like how the females sing? To lure people? That sort of thing is all I ever heard before."
"Oh." He frowned a bit more. "Well...I suppose that makes sense. That's really the most interaction my kind have with humans."
Awiergan shrugged, smiling slightly. "For the most part, I think. Do you have a word for us? Humans?"
Luca's lips twitched up in a small smile and he gave a sharp, squeaking click. "In Common, I think you would say "land swimmer"."
"Land swimmer?" She balked at that, eyes wide as she stared at him as if expecting him to correct himself. When it didn't come, though, Awiergan huffed and shook her head. "That makes no sense," she muttered softly. "Don't swim on land."
"I know," he replied easily. "But we don't have a word for walk in Merfolk."
"I guess that makes sense. Just so odd." She sighed, still not entirely making sense of how exactly the two languages might work together. "I suppose it's not as offensive as it could be. Are there any things I should definitely never say? You know, in case I ever meet another of your kind."
"Hmm..." He mulled that over. "Well, don't call us fish. We're not, and we don't like being referred to that way. And... I dunno. Maybe just stick to Common." He winked at her. "Merfolk can be confusing for those who aren't used to it."
"Oh..." She gulped. She'd already done that, hadn't she? "So... I shouldn't call you a giant fishman? Even if it's true? Or I guess not true."
She huffed indignantly after a moment's thought, a little offended by that. "Am I butchering it that badly?" she deadpanned, glowering at Atlas's mane as it bounced along his neck.
Luca chuckled, shaking his head at her. "I don't mind," he assure her jovially. "But others might. And you're not...butchering it. It's just difficult to understand your accent." Well, that was about as close as he could explain it anyway.
"Well maybe I could get better if I practiced," she mused, sighing and not wanting to give something up before she'd ever really started. "Accents can change, can't they?"
He shrugged. "True. And like I said, it's not like you aren't understandable. I just guess I can't really imagine you ever needing to speak it."
Awiergan frowned at that, shaking her head and watching him out of the corner of her eye. "You never know. Might be useful someday," she mused. "Plenty of things are only useful a handful of times... But I guess it is a lot to learn to not use very much."
Luca gave her a small smile. "I'm happy to teach you, but there might even be some sounds humans just aren't meant to make."
"I doubt that. We aren't all that different," she protested gently, her expression softening a bit at the sight of his smile. He was being kind, she really should have been a bit nicer about it.
He shrugged again. "Like I said- I'm happy to teach whatever you can learn."
It was hard for her not to take that as a bit of a challenge, but she supposed she would see how much or how little she was actually capable of in time.
Thankfully the rest of their journey was fairly uneventful, a calm cycle of nights and days. She was getting used to his company and the horses seemed to settle into the routines of their riders fairly well. It was a tiring journey, but reaching the city at least filled Awiergan with a renewed energy to flit from place to place with the merman in tow.
Luca found traveling by land much more tiring than he would have thought, but he loved every second of it. Everything was new, and he was sure he was starting to drive Awiergan crazy with his constant mantra of "What's this?" and "How does that work" and most often "Why?"
While it was a bit unnerving to be among so many people again the pirate soon realized she had very little to fear. It had been so long since she'd last visited Arca that she'd yet to encounter a familiar face. She did wonder if her stored treasures and riches might still be where she'd left them last.
When she was finally feeling bold enough to try and find them again she began one morning with a proposal for her new friend, "You know there's still a lot here I haven't shown you, Luca. Feel up to more exploring?" She went on to tease, "It's okay if you aren't, I know the city isn't for everyone."
"Yes!" He sort of blushed at his own quick response and cleared his throat. "I mean, yeah. If that's alright."
She couldn't help but smile for his enthusiasm. It was so child-like and adorable but she didn't want to point that out again just to have him grumpy at her.
"If you can be...unsuspicious," she promised, hoping to rein in a bit of his enthusiasm. "Uh, don't draw attention to yourself. Or me. Just act natural. Can you do that?" At least, she hoped "natural" for him might be a little less curious and distracting than he'd been lately.
Luca found himself blushing. "So...be quiet?" he guessed with a sheepish smile.
Awiergan smirked at his self-awareness but shook her head and reached out to give him a light pat on the shoulder. "You can speak. Just be careful of what you say, I guess. I don't have a disguise to wear and there are a few people here who might not take kindly to seeing me again. If they're even here anymore. Fingers crossed, hm?"
"Oh. Okay. Got it." Fingers crossed? Why should he cross his fingers?
Nevertheless, Luca twined two fingers together as he trailed behind Awiergan, gazing around at just about everything with curiosity.
She kept a wary eye on the merman at all times, tense and just waiting for him to slip up. At least his ear fins might not be horribly received in a place with so much magic, but she still felt compelled to watch out for him like the giant, bumbling puppy he seemed to be most of the time.
Awiergan flitted through the city, her eyes not focusing on the grand buildings or even the people milling around going about their everyday, normal lives. Going into the outskirts of the city close to the wall, she walked without much direction as she searched for something she only remembered leaving long ago, though its exact location she couldn't quite remember. "Gods it's been years," she mumbled to herself, stopping to toe her boot at a stone in the road every so often in search of a loose one.
Openly gaping at all the newness around him, Luca almost bumped into Awiergan several times as she slowed to toe at the stones.
He blinked and tried to focus, leaning around her to study the ground at her feet. "What are you doing? Can I help?"
"I don't know. Maybe," she mumbled, growing a little more irritated with every try that wasn't the correct one.
"A long time ago- I don't even know if it's still here, but... There's a key here somewhere. Or was. I don't know, maybe someone took it," she muttered, not really paying attention to the few people going about their own business nearby as she walked staring at the ground.
"Oh. Well then I'll help look for it." Without further ado, Luca crouched down and started poking and prodding at the stones of the street, wrapping a few with his knuckles and then tilting his head as though listening for an echo.
Awiergan tensed, eyeing him warily as he poked around. "Don't hurt yourself," she muttered, unsure how he would possibly manage such a thing but feeling the warning was necessary anyway as she moved a little ways away to search a different area. "Maybe it was a different street..."
Some of the stones were looser than others, worn away under years of traveling feet. "Could it be one of these?" Luca asked, sitting back and wiggling one, attempting to work his nails into the cracks.
"I really should have come around sooner." She sighed, furrowing her brow in frustration and nudging him gently with her boot. "Come on, let's try another street. I feel like I would have left better clues."
"Alright." He got to his feet and resumed trailing behind her, still sneaking glances at their surroundings when he could. "How important is it? What we're looking for."
"Not very important, but- Well what's inside is worth a lot of coin," she admitted, keeping her voice low out of paranoia as she snuck a peek around the corner. It seemed clear, the street relatively quiet on foot traffic. She wasn't sure that would really matter all that much when she was so obviously looking for something in broad daylight. That was bound to draw some unwanted attention eventually.
"I don't think I explained, so um- The key. The key is somewhere here," she began, gesturing at the stones as she shuffled along. "I hid it out here but the box it belongs with is back there." She gestured vaguely at the busier side of the city they'd come from, shaking her head in contemplation.
"If we don't find it we can move along. Just would have been nice to find, ya know? I promise I didn't bring you all the way out to the city just to look under rocks all day." Awiergan chuckled at that, albeit a little anxiously.
"That's alright." Luca tilted his head and smiled at her vaguely. "I don't mind, really. I'm still seeing new things, and I'm with you." He shrugged, as though that made everything even.
She studied him for a moment, pursing her lips and squinting slightly trying to determine if he was being honest or playful with that. After a moment she finally relaxed and huffed a short laugh, smiling slightly and turning to poke at the stone a bit more instead. "Yeah, well... New gets old eventually," she reminded him, though for the moment she was happy enough she wasn't boring the merman to death on her obsessive quest.
"Perhaps." Luca smiled and bumped her shoulder playfully with his. "But then there will be more new things, yes?"
Knocked a little off-balance Awiergan righted herself cautiously with a playful glare shot his way. He was lucky she found his form of playfulness endearing, she was sure any other man might have been gravely injured amongst their games. Somehow she still found it difficult to see him as anything more than a gentle giant, perhaps a little too trusting in that.
"The world is a large and interesting place if you know where to look," she finally decided, at last remembering to get her jab in as she lightly bumped back against his shoulder. The score had to be even, wouldn't be fair otherwise even if it was a lighthearted game.
"I suppose you could find new things. Or at least things that are new to you," she agreed, privately a little envious that he might have the chance to see the world with such innocent eyes.
"Exactly." He beamed and, without seeming to think anything of it, grabbed her hand with his. Her fingers almost completely enclosed hers, and the thin webbing between them probably felt strange to her human senses, but obviously didn't make much difference to him.
Still grinning, Luca swung their hands back and forth between them like an excited child. "C'mon, I bet if we keep looking we'll find the treasures you hid."
She was a little taken aback by his gesture but didn't refuse him. Instead, the pirate simply straightened up and stared at their joined hands for a moment as she let him tug her along, testing a small bit of resistance before deciding it wasn't worth the effort or awkwardness to separate them. She privately enjoyed the contact anyway and didn't see any reason to ruin it, she knew no one of consequence in the city they might happen upon anyway.
"It might be better to give it up," she warned lightly with a small smile, shrugging as her eyes scanned the stone along the street. "There's plenty more interesting things to do or see, and we could follow the rivers further inland if you get tired of the city," she offered.
"Whatever you'd like." Luca smiled at her and gave her hand a light squeeze. "You are my guide after all, I'm following you."
Awiergan chewed at her lip at his reminder. It wasn't that she wasn't able to make a decision so much as she felt guilty for taking advantage of his time, dragging him around for her own selfish wants when there were better things they could have been doing with his limited time. After all, how many of his kind truly got to explore her world that way?
"Let's finish this street," she decided, smiling warmly. "If it's not here we'll move along, but I've just- I've got a feeling about this place. I remember it and I'd like to find it if we could."
She returned her attention to the stone upon the ground, gently toeing at it to see if anything wiggled or if anything didn't fit quite right.
"Alright." He shrugged easily and resumed mimicking her, towing stones and rapping lightly, behind to listen to the ground as he'd seen her do.
By the end of the street she was exhausted and her fingers ached from picking at all the stone. She was irritated at all of it just for not being what she'd been looking for, but there was a corner at the edge of the crossroad that finally gave way to her pestering. The stone slid free from the others so easily she was cursing herself for not remembering the specific spot she'd left her key before.
Kneeling down, she fished the dull key from the small pile of dirt, clutching it triumphantly to her chest. She laughed hysterically with relief as she replaced the corner piece and stood to dust herself off. "After all that it was right here," she murmured incredulously.
"I can get the box later, as long as I have this," Awiergan explained, tucking the key into a pocket. Truthfully she intended on doing so privately and not drag him into it in case there was trouble. "Is there anything you want to see before it gets dark?"
Luca smiled with relief when she found what she'd been looking for, tilting his head as he considered her offer.
"Well...everything." His smile turned teasing. "But I understand that isn't feasible. I'll just follow you, I've gotten quite good at it."
She rolled her eyes playfully at that. "You're not going to have any stories to tell other merfolk when you get back, you know. Just how you spent your time here following around a crazy lady that's too good at hiding things from herself."
Chuckling, she took a moment to look around and gather her bearings before setting off down the road to head deeper into the city. It was only a few moments more until she tensed and paused abruptly, though. "How long until you need to visit the river again, you think?" she wondered aloud.
He chuckled. "What, you think that isn't an entertaining story?" he murmured lightly as he trailed along with her.
His head tilted a bit in the other direction and he mused, "Well, I can go up to three days...but I'd think as frequently as possible would probably be good, yes?"
"Probably, yeah," Awiergan mumbled thoughtfully, falling silent for a moment as she thought on it more. "Want to go down today maybe? Before it gets too dark? We can handle this later, I'm not in a rush," she offered, patting at the pocket she'd hidden the key away in.
Luca shrugged. "Sure, if you'd like."
"Because you'd rather shrivel up and die?" Awiergan rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue childishly for a moment but altered her path to veer down the next side street that would bring them closer to the riverbank just beyond the city. "Like I would let that happen."
He chuckled again and bumped her shoulder lightly. "My body lets me know when it's in danger," he pointed out with an arched brow. "Though I do appreciate all your help."
"All danger? Or just the drying-up bit?" she asked lightheartedly, trying to veil how curious she was about it. She expected him to have better instincts than a human, but a great depth to his natural instinct had the potential to be quite helpful.
Another laugh and he crinkled his nose at her. "Mostly the drying-up bit," he chuckled, bumping her shoulder yet again before grabbing gently for her hand as they walked.
"Only mostly?" Awiergan teased, laughing at the shoulder bump but quieting at the contact of their hands. She accepted it easily, grasping his hand slightly with her own without missing a beat before giving it a gentle squeeze. "Good thing you have me here. Keep you from waltzing up to all the "vicious" land beasts. Never know what might have a taste for merfolk."
Lucas laughed, then suddenly sobered. "Wait- nothing here would actually try to eat me, would it?"
Awiergan smirked playfully and gestured out beyond the city with her free hand, "Well who knows! There are plenty of beasts that would eat a human if given half a chance. Dragons and other sorts. You'd probably be a delicacy to them, even."
He swallowed nervously. "Really?" He shivered, muttering to himself, "And I though krakens were a problem..."
"Well if it puts you at ease at all it's very, very unlikely we'd ever run into one." She laughed, feeling bad for making him nervous. "Sorry Luca, I didn't mean to worry you."
"I'm not worried," he defended automatically. "Just...interested."
"Did you ever hear any stories about dragons? Or any land monsters?" she asked curiously.
Luca shook his head. "I don't really get the chance to talk to humans much, and none of my people ever seem to be interested in such things."
"Ah, well they're all pretty rare in most places anyway. Some people work with them or study them but to the rest of us they're mostly just stories," she explained, giving his hand a gentle squeeze as they approached the bank of the river. It wasn't exactly out of sight but nothing really was that close to the city.
"Well. That's good." He smiled a bit and squeezed her hand back automatically.
"Nah, just means you're really unlucky if you find yourself in a bind with one," she teased, sticking the tip of her tongue at him for a moment before pulling away to kneel at the water's edge.
She rinsed her hands gently, scrubbing the dirt from the road from her skin and wincing a few times for the tender scuffs along her fingertips from picking at the stones. "It's so cold," she mumbled in complaint, glaring at the beautiful, sparkling water beyond the bank.
Luca frowned, puzzled. "Really? Feels okay to me," he said easily, sliding his legs into the water up to the knee. His skin started to shimmer and he quickly stripped, slipping completely into the water as his tail formed, scales rippling up to his waist.
Awiergan watched him for a moment, brief amazement apparent on her face as she witnessed his transformation like it was new again. "I guess if you're in it," she decided, lifting her hands and shaking them briefly before sitting back to relax in the grass.
"Touching is just cold," she complained lightly, eyeing him curiously. "Good enough for you, though? Not too...unsalty?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "No, I'm quite comfortable actually."
"That's good," she huffed, rolling herself a little closer to the water's edge. "Would you be more comfortable sleeping here tonight?"
He shrugged. "Perhaps. But then where would you sleep?"
Her eyes widened slightly and she laughed, gesturing around them at the bank. "Here. In the grass. I'm used to it," she lied easily, knowing full well sleeping on the ground was one of the things she avoided most in the world. But for Luca it didn't seem like such a sacrifice to keep him company.
The merman frowned. "Are you sure? Really, I don't mind waiting for you here if you'd rather find some place more comfortable to bed down."
Awiergan hesitated at that, tilting her head to look back towards the city and the inn the horses were at. There was technically a room for them there but... "I don't want to leave you alone. This is a strange place for you," she pointed out, turning back to offer him a small smile.
He shrugged, smiling a little vacantly. "I don't mind, I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"It's not that bad," she tried to defend, unfolding her legs to flop over onto her side and pat down the grass around her some. "Not uncomfortable, just a little...prickly."
Slowly, he shrugged and nodded. "Well, if you're sure..."
Awiergan sighed and flopped her arm back dramatically, unsure what the right decision was. "Tell me this... Are you more comfortable sleeping in the water or on a bed?"
"Hmm." He tilted his head from side to side, brow furrowed. "I'm not really sure. When I have my tail, I'm more comfortable in water- so I guess I wouldn't really know," he chuckled.
She frowned at the lack of a firm answer, rolling closer to flick him lightly with water. "So the same?" she offered.
He shrugged, not minding the flicked water at all. "I suppose. It's hard to quantify, y'know?"
"Quantify?" Awiergan wrinkled her nose at that, too embarrassed to admit she didn't really understand that word. "Like explain? Cut the fancy talk," she scoffed.
Luca laughed and reached out to ruffle her hair impulsively. "Yes, like that. Like...to put into proper words, I suppose?"
He smiled a bit to himself, never having considered that to be "fancy talk" before.
"Oh. Well, yeah, I knew that," she muttered defensively, knowing full well she didn't know it at all until it had been explained to her. "If it's all the same to you and you're not going to die on me let's just go back to the inn. It's warm and there's a bed and blankets."
He just smiled widely and nodded. "As you like, I'll follow you."
There he was with that adorable, carefree smile again. Awiergan narrowed her eyes slightly at him, a little suspicious and having no idea how he could be so relaxed after what, to her, had been an arduous day. Truthfully she was a little jealous, too. Just being in the city had her nerves on end.
"Drag your butt out of the water, then. Not carrying you there," she complained mildly as she stood and brushed her clothes of stray grass, completely unaware of the fact they were being watched by a man further up the street in the city proper, the sparkle of Luca's scales standing out to an alchemist's trained eye.
The merman chuckled again and sort of rolled himself out of the water, giving his tail a shake as the familiar tingles set in and scales faded to skin.
He looked up at Aweirgan, suddenly a little sheepish. "Ah- do you remember where those pants went?"
She watched the quick transformation in awe, unbothered by his nakedness at this point but amused he'd managed to lose his clothes already. "Maaaaybe," she drawled, sitting up and twisting herself towards the direction they'd come from before. Sure enough his clothes were there in the grass further up the bank all rumpled.
Awiergan stretched out to pluckthem up and turned back towards the merman to offer them to him with a wicked smile. "You don't need help getting into them, too, do ya?"
Luca blinked at her, befuddeled by the teasing. "Um...no?" He reached for the pants, shifting a bit and frowning as grass prickled bare skin in...sensitive areas.
Awiergan laughed, shaking her head and waving a hand in dismissal for his look. "I was just playing, silly. Just funny to me clothes aren't as important to you, your kind. It's strange, it's just so normal to me. I'd die if I lost them. Not really just...I'd be very embarrassed if I had to walk around without them."
"Well." He shrugged as he pulled the trousers on. "I suppose they offer some protection, which is nice. But in the water...well, they just slow you down."
"Above water, yeah. It's mostly protection. What about hair?" She snickered quietly, reaching out to comb her fingers through his gently. "Wouldn't you feel a little off without it?"
He considered that as he got to his feet. "I don't know. Maybe?" He tugged at a lock of hair, frowning at it in a curious sort of way.
"Hmm. Has it been this long forever?" she wondered aloud, following him to stand and brush herself off. Turning easily back towards the city proper she made to lead him back to the street they'd come down before.
Luca nodded. "Yes. Well- no. I mean, when I was younger it was shorter," he laughed. "I've just...never cut it. Never really had the need, or opportunity."
Awiergan chuckled, having a very difficult time imagining the gentle giant as a boy. He'd probably been adorable, though, knowing the innocent gentleness of him present day. "I'm kind of curious how it would look shorter," she admitted, reaching out to hold some of the ends away as if they were gone, frowning thoughtfully. Perhaps if it was styled differently but it was hard to imagine him without such long hair anyway.
Through all of that on their way back to the tavern she was oblivious to the way they were being followed by the stranger, forgetting all too quickly the dangers for them in the capital.
Luca chuckled and ducked his head slightly to lean into her touch. "Maybe I'll cut it then," he said with a shrug as he followed her.
"Ahhh but what if it never grows back?" she teased in a sing-song tone, releasing him and pushing her way through the tavern doors. Instead of heading right back to their room, though, she beelined it for the bar. Hoisting herself up onto a stool she sighed happily and laid herself out along the counter, eliciting a loud grumble from the barkeep. "I need a drink before bed, I've earned it," she decided. "Do you want anything?"
The merman shook his head as he took a seat beside her. "I'm alright. One of us should be sober," he teased.
Awiergan pursed her lips, unsure if he was making fun of her with that or a genuine gesture. "Why? Nothing bad happened last time," she pointed out, ordering herself a huge mug of mead and taking a big gulp. She was going to make her one drink count.
He didn't say anything else, just chuckled and shook his head as he watched her.
Awiergan glowered at him for his silence but continued to drink, still leaning against the bar and a bit too proud to admit she was beat tired.
Luca was content to wait for her to finish her drink, looking around the room curiously as he did.
The man from the street quietly slipped inside, eyeing them from across the room before navigating the crowd to take a seat a little further down at the bar. There he silently watched them from behind a drink, careful not to stare too long but definitely not looking quite in place and drinking with a bit of impatience.
Awiergan didn't even notice, promptly hopping down from her seat once she was done and sulking off towards the hall they were staying in. "Can't believe you won't even drink with me," she complained lightly, pouting as she headed down to their room away from the noise of the tavern-proper. There she just flopped into bed fully clothed, curling into a ball and glowering at Luca.
The merman followed her with a quiet laugh, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I don't like alcohol." He scrunched his nose up at the thought.
"Ah." She sighed and rolled over, feeling a little queasy and clutching at her stomach with a muttered, "Sometimes I don't either."
Then she turned her head to him with a thoughtful look. "What do you think so far? Is the mainland what you thought it might be?"
"I don't know...parts of it are." He tilted his head and gave her a concerned frown. "Are you alright?"
"No, not really," she muttered, not wanting to lie when she was so clearly in discomfort. "Just aches. Had too much." She tried to shake it off with a small smile. "I'll be fine."
"...Alright." He shrugged and laid down on the other side of the bed. "You should get some rest."
With a low grumble she rolled over, content to listen to him for once. "All right, all right," she mumbled quietly, tossing an arm over her eyes.
There were two soft, slow knocks at the door then. Awiergan lifted her head, squinting at it from under her arm and pondering for a moment if it was a confused drunk or some legitimate business. Had Atlas and Shadow gotten loose somehow?
"Luca," she spoke slowly, brow furrowed as she dropped her arm and looked to him thoughtfully. "Could you see who that is? Probably nothing, just- If it's about the horses..." She trailed off, shaking her head distractedly in thought.
The man who'd been following them was on the other side, the urge to get a closer look at his prey too enticing to maintain his distance any longer. He had no means to harm the merman or even coerce him unless he might follow him on his word alone, but he operated under the assumption that he'd have an easier time capturing him later if he knew a familiar face.
"Oh. Sure." Rolling off the bed, he got to his feet and moved toward the door, one hand running through his hair while the other covered a brief yawn.
He opened the door and peeked out, eyes wide and curious. "Um, hello?"