07. spam

[godsays]

[ He builds you, in his mind, from the slivers of sight and sound that fall through the cracks of your world into his. He catches the curve of your hand, the glance of sunlight off of hat and hair, through the gaps of rope and rigging and rail. He goes still, and lets himself sink, and listens to the muffled half-sounds that hum in the water against his skin. He can hear your voice, from the dim-and-dullness, the quiet riot.

He is a patch of pale skin and a long, winding tail distorted by restless water. He is intrigued, but he is... shy? Cautious.

He will follow you anywhere there is water to swim. ]

[ ooc: Zane is a merperson who is spying on everyone, particularly people he finds intriguing or dangerous. This is especially open to people that we've plotted/discussed him stalking, but also open to... yep, pretty much everyone who wants to spot a mercreeper.

Also available for general interaction for fellow water-and-island-creatures! ]

Comments

[espanola]

[Toto is chaos: bright colors, big sharp grin, tail slashing the water violently and excitedly. Most of the time. He's learned to work with Zane, act a certain way, so as to frighten him less.]

[Not much less, but slightly less. He does enjoy frightening people.]

[Which is why he's silent, now, eyes wide and sharp in the light filtering through the water, why he swims forward in one mad dash to pass in front of him.]

Who is it now?

[patheticvillain]

[Last night Tom almost drowned. Was almost drowned, by a creature who presented to him everything that he wanted in the world. He's rattled from it still, thinking on the possibility of sucking water and seeing nothing else for the rest of forever, wondering why it sounds as appealing as it does.]

[He makes his way, almost unconsciously, to the water, rolls his pant legs up, and wades in. He wants to be close to what he was, what he saw, though it's run through his fingers quick as water or sand. Gone now.]

[Who is Lila?]

[godsays]

[ Zane's movements are quiet, and smooth; he uses the natural current of the water, he lies still, he makes subtle shifts to be where he wants to be. The opposite of Toto, in all ways.

He tolerates Toto. Because there are not many of them, and they should remember the ocean belongs to all of them. ]

Now it's you.

[ ie, you're in my way gtfo. ]

[espanola]

Not really.

[It's not really him, is what that means. He's never caught Zane's attention, and that's fine with him. He's all right being the observer. He's good at it.]

[He does swim to the side, hovers at a short distance, though his tail and fingers twitch.]

Who?

[godsays]

[ Operation A "Get Toto Out Of My Way" accomplished.

Operation B "Get Toto To Leave" in progress. ]

I don't know. A sailor. He seems interesting.

spam

[surrenders]

[It'd be better to let the humans go their own ways. She doesn't stand any danger from them, but they're so loud and can't just enjoy life as it comes on this island. Yellow eyes peer out from a bush as she stares to make sure it's the quiet one, the one she helps feed, and then she pushes out in a shower of leaves, shoving a basket forward. She's about a foot tall, with a human's face, but from the shoulders down she shades into bird, green feathers and wings and claws instead of skin and hands and feet.]

I know what you'll come out for.

[godsays]

[ It's a lagoon, a calm place, and the water drops off steeply after the beach, rocky and clear. Twenty, twenty-five feet deep.

And it's apparently out of nowhere that a lengthy mermaid tail snakes around his ankles and tugs, throwing him with surprising strength into the deep end of the water.

Zane would like to have a discussion.

On his terms. ]

spam

[godsays]

[ A twist of his tail levies him up onto one of the smooth rocks along the edge of the stream. The water here is fresh, but he's swum up from the ocean, and he has braids of seaweed for her. He's interested to see if she likes them. He thinks she might not, but they're one of his favorites. ]

I have something for you.

[ The spike through his chest, as ever, is bared and visible, the point of it protruding out between his shoulderblades, the flat of it above his rib cages. ]

[patheticvillain]

[Tom's sick of surprises from the water, but he's also exhausted, got no sleep, and even if he was rested from two days' sleep he wouldn't be able to avoid this grip. As it is he can barely react before he's thrown into the middle of the pool.]

[Sure, he can swim all right, but even he's not stupid enough to think he can swim fast enough to get away from whatever just threw him. Whatever that was - not human.]

[So he starts yelling, daring it to attack him. (He is precisely that stupid.)]

Where are you? Come on!

[godsays]

[ The human's flailing arms are difficult to avoid, but Zane is quick. He darts in fast and gets an arm around his waist, and drags him down. His tail moves with powerful strokes, sweeping them through the water, down and into the entrance of a cave. And then back up again, quick, because Zane doesn't know how long these creatures can go without their air.

The cave within is a place sparkling with water and shined stone. The sea laps gently at large, flat, wet rock, and the ceiling drips, steadily, stalactites dangling.

There is a trove of treasure here. Things Zane has scavenged from shipwrecks. Weapons, chests of gold and silver. China. Broken crates of it.

He heaves Cassel up onto the flat rock, and slides back down into the water, submerging to his shoulders. ]

[patheticvillain]

[For a long minute Tom's sure he's going to die. Absolutely positive of it, and he thinks it's damn stupid that after managing to save himself last night he's still going to be drowned.]

[But then his head breaks water, and he's flung up onto hard stone. He coughs, gasping, and rubs salt water out of his eyes. Once he gets a look around, well - everything's quite beautiful. And expensive-looking.]

[His fingers twitch toward the treasure, but there are more important things to consider here, like his kidnapper. He folds his arms sullenly, tossing wet hair out of his face.]

What?

[godsays]

[ Zane retreats a hint, taken aback by the question. ]

I wanted to talk to you.

[patheticvillain]

You wanted to -

[He stares. Snorts. Unfolds his arms and pushes his hair back.]

You couldn't just talk?

[godsays]

The last time I tried to talk to a human...

[ He twists his tail and pushes himself out of the water, revealing the metal buried in his chest.

A twist to the side shows Cassel the point, slightly protruding. ]

Forgive me for taking precautions.

[patheticvillain]

[His eyes go wide, and his fingers twitch again. What an odd thing.]

How are you alive?

[Almost without realizing it, he slides closer to the edge to get a better look.]

[godsays]

We aren't so fragile as you.

[ He hasn't thought about it much. It hurt a lot for a long time, but it eventually healed. Now it's just a part of him. ]

What's the difference between you humans? Why do you want to kill each other?

[patheticvillain]

Huh. I'd like to be less fragile.

[Being fragile sucks. So much. What do you even do with a broken bone on a pirate ship, huh?]

[The question makes him grin, though. He points at the treasure across the cave.]

The other ones have things we want.

[godsays]

That's all?

[ He looks appalled. That's a terrible reason to kill each other. ]

[patheticvillain]

That's it. I like getting what I want. Don't you?

. . . After all, you did just nearly to drown me so you could talk to me.

[godsays]

That would have been enough to drown you?

[ wow revising human durability way downwards. ]

[patheticvillain]

Well, a few minutes more. [He waves his hand.] Not the point. You like getting what you want, too!

[godsays]

All of this? [ He gestures to the treasure. ]

Curiosities. A way to occupy my time. What do I need with trinkets?

[ He slides out of the water, coiling his tail so he could spring at Cassel - or spring away - if he needed. ]

[patheticvillain]

Not that. I mean you got me. So I could answer your questions.

[He doesn't move away, though he eyes Zane suspiciously.]

Or am I wrong?

[godsays]

I was just interested.

[ Somewhat defensive. ]

I'm not like a human.

[patheticvillain]

Right, you were interested. In me.

[He's smirking, now.]

I can see that, of course, you've got a spike in your chest. Plus a tail.