The waters of the Rewhister Ocean have tempted many a traveler, as from the shore they seem docile and inviting. Upon reaching around 100 km from shore though, the sea floor drops greatly and waters are often violent. Sailors fear the horrors that may lurk below. (+2 stat of choice)

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Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Skylark » 02/17/2018 1:56 PM

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(Rewhister Ocean at the end of the event)


On the list of monumental fuck-ups in her life, flubbing her own suicide was probably second place (following the Incident Which We No Longer Speak Of), but right there behind it, nipping at it's fucking heels, was this moment.

She had no idea why she had A) agreed to come back here in the first place, B) actually decided this morning that she was going to come back here after all, or C) showed up with a blanket and some snacks just in case she had to wait a while for him to show up. This was stupid. This was really fucking stupid. Someone doesn't try to kill themselves, get rescued by a merperson who probably still wants to eat them, get convinced by said merperson to give the whole living thing another chance, and then agree to meet with an apex predator of the ocean AT the same ocean she fucked up her suicide in two days so that said apex predator can check in to make sure she didn't slit her wrists in the shower instead of following the agreement to stay alive for a while.

In other words, Talia was grumpy, cold, sitting on a too-cheery brightly colored beach towel next to the pier where she'd tried to kill herself two days ago angrily munching on cheez-its and staring moodily at the water waiting for a busy-body merperson to show up and check that she wasn't dead. She'd thrown on jeans and a hoodie, but to be on the safe side she was also wearing knee-high socks and gloves that went all the way to her elbows so that if she DID accidentally touch anyone she probably wouldn't kill them. Not unless she got startled enough that her spines popped out and injected them with a concentrated dose of venom. Ugh.

He'd better show up soon. She was ready to leave.
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What this is, forgot?
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Isalynne » 02/17/2018 2:39 PM

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Murdoch had done his best to do right by Talia, and he wasn't sure why.

Normally, humans didn't interest him. They were bland creatures with stupid customs and annoying habits, like throwing plastic into the sea. Their annoyingly narrow perspectives did nothing but irritate him. Being violently and aggressively cussed out by one had done nothing to improve his opinion either; if anything, it should have made him give up on the species and focus his curiosities elsewhere. Interestingly, though, he'd managed to choose a unique case to save, and now he was in too deep to squirm his way out of it.

Their agreement was a strange one, but it worked. If she didn't turn up, he would know that something was wrong, and she was too stubborn to let that happen. Thus, it didn't surprise him to see her waiting for him. The obnoxious beach towel made him laugh. After a swift glance around to ensure that no other people were around - she could be luring him into a trap, he couldn't ever be too sure - he swam up to the shore and pulled himself onto the sand. One hand was clutched around something.. squirming.

"Hello." The usual predatory smile, and then he deposited his loot in front of her. It was.. fish. Live fish, still flopping around helplessly. "I brought some food, if you are hungry."
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Skylark » 02/17/2018 10:01 PM

Luckily, it wasn't long before creepy fish man chose to make his creepy appearance. Talia was pretty sure that he'd probably been here the entire time, but made her wait as long as she had just to make a point. That seemed like him. But she hadn't even polished off a quarter of the cheez-its before he was dragging his scaly ass through the surf. It gave her plenty of time to stare at him, an unimpressed look on her face as she crunched through her cheesy snacks, studying the guy who'd rescued her from drowning when she really hadn't wanted him to.

Guess the whole thing hadn't been a fever dream after all.

The grin didn't bother her as much, this time, especially since she was far enough away from his reach and on dry ground that she was pretty sure she could scramble away before he tried to make a grab at her. Not that she thought he'd try to actually eat her anymore. It was just... her flight or fight hindbrain planning an escape route. Just in case. Guy was creepy.

What did bother her was silver, slimy, and flopping around on the wet sand. She wrinkled her nose. "Uuuuuhh... thanks? I think? But it's kinda..." She struggled for the words to properly describe just how unappetizing watching a dying fish was to her at this very moment. Eventually, she settled on, "Alive."
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Because when I arrive
I, I'll bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What this is, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Isalynne » 02/27/2018 4:03 PM

Murdoch was doing his best to not look intimidating or creepy, but it sort of.. came with the territory. Being noticeably bigger than a human man, with inky scales against ghastly blue-white skin and hair that moved as fluidly on land as it did in water, not to mention his rows of pointed teeth, made it hard for him to appear friendly. He wasn't friendly. Fate had thrown Talia at him and he was coping with it, even though it went against every behaviour he had ever learned.

Of course, he didn't see the problem with the live fish. He glanced down at it, unbothered; its frantic flopping and squirming had begun to slow, signalling its imminent demise. No effort had gone into catching or killing it, sure, but he was baffled by the girl's lukewarm-at-best response.

"I thought that humans ate raw fish on occasion," He murmured. The tip of his head and sullen look on his face would imply that he was.. disappointed, as if he had been aiming to please her or at least coax a smile. Failure in his efforts was not something he appreciated. Within seconds, his expression hardened and his shoulders tensed, warding off that small germ of dejection trying to wriggle its way into his body. "I was trying to be amiable. I'm sorry that it's so displeasing to you."

In his huff, he turned his back on her and started descending back down towards the water, batting at the almost-dead fish with his tail.
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Skylark » 03/14/2018 6:49 PM

Talia also looked at the live fish. She winced. It wasn't like she was squeamish or anything. She knew where her food came from and she was fine with it, but it was one thing to eat a prepared fillet or sushi and another thing entirely to have the living thing right there in front of her, still flopping.

She was going to tell him that, too, but then the fish man started getting huffy. And here she thought she was the teenaged girl.

"Dude, get your scaley ass back here!" With a huge eye roll just to get back some of her teenaged cred, Talia scrambled to her feet and dashed down the sand to stand in front of the giant fish monster, her arms spread out at her sides as if that would stop him from leaving if he really wanted to. Now that she had his attention, hopefully she'd be able to talk some reason into him.

"Listen. If you actually want to check in on me like this you can't get huffy every time we have communication problems because we come from entirely different worlds." Here she crossed her arms, eyeing him as if he should know better than this. "Yeah, humans eat fish, I even like fish. But I've never eaten live fish or even caught and prepared my own fish before. Oh, yeah, humans have to get rid of the scales and the bones until they can eat it. I'm allowed to be squeamish about a live fish, they're gross."
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Because when I arrive
I, I'll bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What this is, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Isalynne » 03/14/2018 6:56 PM

Murdoch was not surprised by the girl's gall, especially after the mouthful she had given him last time, but that didn't mean it vexed him any less. Was she really going to try to physically stop a huge merman, probably twice the length of her? At first, he stared at her in disbelief with his eyes narrowed. When it became apparent that she was not going to move, he sighed, pulling the end of his tail out of the surf.

"Fair, but how am I supposed to know this? Instead of explaining, you give me attitude," He bit back. 'Attitude' was a bit of a reach, since all she had said was that it was still alive, but he was standing by his words. "Perhaps we can start by being a little less aggressive to one another. How about that?"

Kind of hypocritical of him to mention aggression, in the scheme of things. She was not going to get on his nerves this easily, though, he was determined. As sure as his name was Murdoch and her name was.. was..

Wait. What the hell was her name?

".. I never asked you what you are called."
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Skylark » 03/14/2018 7:04 PM

Hah, she won that battle.

It was super hard to resist rolling her eyes again. This guy was seriously ridiculous. Why the fuck did she come here again?

"I barely said anything!" She couldn't help but protest, flailing her arms out again before huffing and crossing them. God this was just so stupid.

"Yeah see, that's gonna be kinda difficult since I deal with my problems by throwing sarcasm at them and you get butthurt if someone looks at you the wrong way." Talia huffed some more, eyes wandering away from the vexing mercreature before finally venturing back towards him. "I can't always help the way I talk. But if I say something that confuses you, tell me instead of making it worse. I'll try to actually explain shit instead of just yelling at you, okay?"

And... huh.

"What?"

Did they seriously not know each other's names?

That.... that was hilarious. All of a sudden, Talia was laughing her ass off, arms wrapped around her belly, bending over, practically spraining something. Jesus christ! He'd saved her life, made her swear to meet her today so he could check that she hadn't killed herself, and the jackass never thought to ask her name!

"Holyshit." It was a while before she was able to wheeze out past the giggle, "Talia. I'm Talia. I can't believe neither of us though to ask. That basically says everything, doesn't it?"

Talk about communication issues.
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Because when I arrive
I, I'll bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What this is, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Isalynne » 03/14/2018 7:11 PM

It was.. good, to hear her — Talia — laugh.

Was that creepy? It was definitely creepy, but Murdoch didn’t care. In fact, he had no concept of it. To him, it was a simple relief from the constant bickering and anger he had grown accustomed to with her. Not that he was any better. He couldn’t help but let a smile draw over his own face, even if it was that strange, toothy grin that was more frightening than jolly. That was his only smile. There was no way to turn it off.

“Our meeting was unorthodox, so it doesn’t surprise me very much,” He answered with a strange laugh of his own. It was almost like a seal barking. “Well, then.. a pleasure to meet you, Talia. My name is Murdoch.”

One damp hand with its webbed fingers was extended to her in a comical gesture of introduction.
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Skylark » 03/14/2018 7:15 PM

Still holding back giggles, Talia glanced at her hand quickly to make sure her glove was still in place before accepting Murdoch's offered hand, shaking it a few times before letting him go and heading back to her blanket. "Nice to meetcha Murdoch."

Ignoring how creepy he looked smiling at her like that, she flopped down on the blanket and grabbed her box of cheez-its again. She was polite enough not to stuff a handful into her mouth until after she'd asked her next question, however, "You know what's weird? You don't know that humans fillet fish before eating them, but you know about handshakes. Do mer-people, merfolk? Mers? Do you guys shake hands, too?"

And then she stuffed cheez-its into her face, crunching happily.
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Because when I arrive
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Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What this is, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Isalynne » 03/14/2018 7:27 PM

That was a damn good question. How did he know that handshaking was a custom? Murdoch furrowed his brow and stayed motionless in place as he thought, looking comical in his enormity. He must have seen it somewhere. That was the only explanation, since it wasn't something he would do with merfolk.

"I.. suppose I have observed it from humans on the shore, at some point," He offered. It was a throwaway, uninteresting response, but an honest one, at least. "We do not shake hands. We do not enjoy physical contact as a species, unless for reproduction."

Watching him move was another amusing pastime. Murdoch hopped up the shore like a walrus might, grunting with the effort of it. When he reached the blanket, he ran his fingers over the fabric, and then turned his attention to her box of cheez-its.

"What are those?"
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Skylark » 03/14/2018 7:35 PM

"So I'm not the only human you've creeped on." Talia concluded, easing the sting of her words by baring her teeth at him in a smile. Well. If he were human it might ease the sting. For all she knew, every time she smiled she was threatening his manhood or some shit.

She couldn't help but frown when he mentioned that he doesn't come in contact with others of his species. She was pretty sure he said something like that before, too, but from someone coming from a species so social that it domesticates apex predators for fun, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad about it. "That sounds pretty lonely. Did you know that human babies can die if they're left alone too much? We're the opposite of solitary, we're hyper-social. What the heck do you even do if you're alone all the time? Who do you talk to? When you decide you wanna have kids do you even like the person you decide to have kids with or do you all just meet, bang, then flee?"

So weird.

Talia looked down at the box to prevent herself from laughing and making him butthurt. Again. He looked so stupid out of water. She looked back up, however, when he asked his own question. "Cheez-its." She said with a grin, pouring some onto her palm and holding them out for him to inspect. "Are you carnivorous? You can try some if you think they won't mess you up. They're plant based, for the most part."
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Because when I arrive
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What this is, forgot?
I must now remind you
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Isalynne » 03/14/2018 7:47 PM

Murdoch did frown somewhat at that creeping comment, but.. she didn't look angry. Talia was not glaring at him in that aggressive way, and her voice was not raised. Was this meant to be a joke? Not a joke.. a tease, a lighthearted play on his actions. Yes, that must be it.

It was a shock, to hear that about human babies. Unfortunate. He couldn't imagine needing contact so much that he would die without it. His own company had always been preferable to him than that of any other being.

"That is a shame. We.. well, leave indications, if you will, that we are seeking a mate," He explained, his tone as casual as it could be. "A female will respond, if interested. From there, we copulate, and eventually she will lay eggs. It's rather simple."

Whether or not the cheez-its were going to do him harm, he was determined to try one. They smelled interesting. Without a second glance, he snatched them up from her palm and threw them into his mouth, crunching on them noisily.
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Skylark » 03/14/2018 7:55 PM

"Geez." She wasn't even sure what to say about that. It was all so impersonal. But that was the point, was it? His species was solitary, they didn't want to spend a lot of time with others of their species. But, still, from a human's point of view, it was way too sad to be believable.

"A lot of large land predators are like that." Talia admitted. "Land predators usually, like, the female will pee on a bush or something if she's in heat. Or receptive, or whatever." She didn't know so much about predators to begin with, but she was pretty sure most things like dolphins and whales were social. Sharks were solitary. Pretty much all cats except lions were solitary... It must not be too weird that there'd be a solitary predator species like his in the ocean. Er, well, it was still weird they were sentient, though.

"Well okay then." She said, grinning, as she watched him crunch on the cheez-its. "Well? What do you think?"
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Isalynne » 03/14/2018 8:02 PM

Peeing on a bush was not quite the method that his species took, but it wasn't too far removed. Murdoch didn't feel the pinch of loneliness for the most part - he was a prime example of a good male of his breed. Even so, hearing about how social humans were coaxed something akin to jealousy in his system. Spending time with Talia had not been awful. It had been a break from the mundane drag of the day to day.

"I don't think I have ever seen a female of my species, aside from my mother," He said through a mouthful of cheez-its. "And that was only a brief experience. Sticking around your mother is a rare experience for us. We are encouraged to be independent from a young age."

Females of his kind were simply not motherly. They felt only the need to breed to keep their species alive.

"They are absolutely awful. I would like more."
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Re: Sushi with a Shark... Thing. [Skylark & Isalynne] [L]

Postby Skylark » 03/14/2018 8:09 PM

"Damn, that's really sad." Talia said, feeling her mood pulling down a bit at the thought of not even knowing your mother for long. "Not for you, I guess, but that would be close to qualifying as a tragic backstory for a human." She paused at that, humming a bit, before asking, "How do you know all this stuff about your species, though, if no one teaches it to you? Do you just go through life bullshitting to the best of your ability or going off instinct?"

Talia grinned. "Thaaaat's what I like to hear."

She then proceeded to straight up dump the rest of the cheez-its on the blanket between the two of them. It was clean enough and this way she didn't have to worry about him sticking his wet fish-man hand into her box of cheese-goodness.

Talia grabbed a handful of said snack and tossed it into her mouth, munching happily. "I'll eat some of that gross alive fish, too, if you deal with the scales. I can pick out bones like a champ, but dead fish scales stick to everything and are impossible to get rid of."
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Because when I arrive
I, I'll bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What this is, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
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