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No Still Waters [DragonSong]

Started by Juno, January 27, 2016, 06:39:53 PM

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Juno

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.

DragonSong

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.

Juno

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.

DragonSong

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?"

Juno

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..."

DragonSong

"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.

Juno

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.

DragonSong

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.

Juno

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."

DragonSong

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.

Juno

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.

DragonSong

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.

Juno

"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.

DragonSong

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?"

Juno

"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?

DragonSong

"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."

Juno

"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."

DragonSong

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.

Juno

"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."

DragonSong

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?"

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