Deep Blue Depths [IC]

[Nanashi]

((Bhrys is tiny;;)

 

There was a blank glare from Bhrys for a few moments before they faded to the color of the rock, and... Slammed themselves against it. With a whine, they began slamming themselves against the stone, causing it to start to move- And sure, they were in pain, but- "...Why are both of you still here?! This is my territory!" ...The small one is angered. "You aren't just supposed to enter another serpent's territory without permission! Get out already and take your pitiful quarreling somewhere else!" ...Anger indeed. They even released a bubble out of anger. Wow. Bubbly bubbly anger. "Neither of you have any manners and the human is my prey if anyone's! My territory, my prey. Get out!"

....Bhrys, calm down, they are much larger than you.

 

((just a short thing because there's not much else for Bhrys to scream---))

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Ejderha sighed. "I am not a sea serpent Ancient one, I have no gills nor fins to make me so. My kind is even older than yours and had good relations with the humans. They worshipped us water dragons like gods, asking for our vast knowledge and wisdom. My daughter is a mermaid I have adopted, she was abandoned by my home. As for leaving, I will not do so. My people are still stricken by famine, and this place is safer than other parts for my child. You can not force me. My race although known to be benevolent is very powerful in strength and knowledge." He narrowed his eyes. "Wisdom outwits fangs and strength any day." He rumbled deeply.

 

 

Engel, hearing the rocks shift she pushed on the other side. Any sea creature would let her die in such a place, but maybe it was that poor white one trying to help her as she tried to help it. She shifted rocks from the inside until it shook and dust rained down again. Shifting the last few rocks, making the wall crumble to reveal....... a larger stone. She cursed up a storm.

 

 

 

 

Atasi carefully worked on the bit of her tail that was thin, almost translucent. On the thicker bits, she worked faster and was free in fifteen minutes. "I'm good! I think dad is back, want to go meet him? He's really nice. "

[Lemniscate]

Heh. He was an arrogant one, although foolish enough to waste his time with humans. Letting a small smirk show on her face, she turned to face him. The noises of the slimy creature were dismissed with a flick of a tail aimed at its body, too insignificant for her to bother listening to. For a moment, she toyed with the idea of simply freezing the "water dragon", but she ultimately decided not to. It would be a waste of a surprise opportunity. Instead, she grinned to reveal her razor sharp teeth and spoke in a smooth, confident tone.

 

"Oh? You mistake me for my brutish cousins. There is no need for you to leave this place, only for you to mind your own business."

 

Her voice turned to poison at the end as she gave him a pointed stare. Such a nuisance. Why did he care about the worthless human? Even if she did kill this one, ten more would pop up in its place. Humans multiplied like minnows. Still, she supposed she could afford to let this one go if things took a turn for the worse. She'd just find another one later, she had plenty of time. Besides, her opponent had revealed a critical weakness, a flaw in his "wisdom". He had no gills or fins. This put him at a severe disadvantage in the deep sea. Without gills, he would eventually have to surface for air and without fins he wouldn't be able to get around as easily in the water.

 

Since he wasn't a native to the area, she also had the advantage of familiarity. Of course, she never really went near the human settlements, but she knew the currents of the ocean like the back of her fin. This "water dragon" didn't stand a chance in her home terrain.

 

((Note: although Arkhesis brings up valid points, her perception of who will win is still skewed by her pride. I'm not saying that she'll definitely lose in a fight if it happens, but she probably won't have as easy of a time as she makes it out to be.))

[HomeForFlowers]

A wide grin spread across Takuma's lips as he halted a foot from his friend.

 

"Indeed, I have a little plan that you just might be interested in." Scooting closer, Takuma gently laid his hand on Li-on's shoulder. "Imagine," he began, dramatically waving his free hand out in the open, causing a wave of bubbles to follow the motion of his arm. "You've been swimming around the sea for ages, eating whatever small fries you can get your hands on. Food is merely sustenance. There is no spark as a waterfall of flavors fuse together and dance upon your taste buds. You are eating to survive, not to live." Takuma lowered his hand, glancing sideways to catch his friend's eye.

 

"What if I told you I knew how to get something tastier?" he asked. "What if I told you I could get you enough food to satisfy what sort of craving crawled it's way to your mind? Would that be something you'd be interested in?" Chances were, Li-on knew exactly what Takuma was talking about. He wasn't exactly original with his plans now and days, but that didn't mean he couldn't throw in a little flare of drama to add excitement to them.

[Eto]

Villads was panicking. Panicking while running. Never a good plan. Why did this always happen to him?

 

He didn't do what to do in this situation. He could stop and hand the backpack back to the boy, but what then? Villads didn't fancy getting arrested for theft, no thank you.

 

So he kept running. All the while internally yelling. Until he looked back, saw the boy sprinting after him with surprisingly fast speed, and Villads was about to quicken his pace until he suddenly realised--

 

"Where did you put my guitar!" he yelled, stopping abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk. No, no, that thing was his child and he only had 20 dollars to his name--he couldn't afford a new one if it was lost. No--where was it?

 

He nearly yelled again when he realised that there was another boy--this one with greyish-blonde hair--following the other.

 

"Listen," he said, "you"--pointing to the first one--"and you"--the second--"are you guys, like, extreme radicals or something? Do you go out squirting people with water hoping to catch mermaids or something? Did I just steal your top secret backpack with all of your weird murder fantasies and seafolk discrimination?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I bet you have a shrine. Oh my god, you have a shrine, don't you. What's your power? Being creepy? Harassing strangers? What's in this bag? Do you have money because I could really go for a sub right about now--"

 

----

 

Li-on crossed her arms, rolling her eyes as Takuma began this grand description of the world's greatest foods. The jellyfish-mermaid floated in the sea, her tails swaying gently from side to side as she remained in one place. Her eyes followed the movement of Takuma's hand as he waved across the space before them, creating a small trail of bubbles.

 

"And if I was?" she asked. A part of her knew what he was suggesting, and though she hoped it wasn't exactly the case Li-on couldn't help but realise there was a part of her that wanted to see the world beyond the sea. What wonders could the city above the ocean hold? And Takuma had been there before, it would be safe, wouldn't it?

 

She hummed to herself as she waited for a response, slightly nervous. Well, there wasn't much tying her back in the sea--no friends, apart from the one who was suggesting a crazy mission right in front of her, and no family--her parents were exploring grand seas far beyond her own. Maybe it was time she did some wandering as well.

[Kiran]

Vogel nearly smashed into the boy when he suddenly stopped. As it was, he almost fell over forwards with the force of his momentum. It took him a moment to turn the boy's question over in his head- he'd been so focused on the bag. "Gui-? The bench! I wasn't going to risk dropping it!" Besides, it had been awkward to carry. What, did he think he was just going to drag it around?

 

"What!? No! I just." He paused. Well, the boy wasn't entirely wrong. "I mean, most of that isn't true. I don't have a shrine. Probably? How is-" He broke off mid-sentence, thinking and biting his lower lip. Being creepy actually did make sense as a power- perhaps as some sort of emotional aura? Not important.

 

"Look, please, I really need that bag back. The library fees will be nasty, I've got notes, uh, and I think some precious family heirlooms of great personal significance but little value to a stranger." Next time he had the chance, he'd have to work on a better explanation. Really, it would have sounded much better without the last bit.

 

His phone vibrated as a reminder and he glanced down, swiping his thumb in a pattern to unlock it. "Sorry," he mumbled belatedly. His face lit up as he read the message, worries about his backpack momentarily forgotten. Grinning, he looked back at the boy. "They captured a mermaid, and preliminary analysis indicates that it's lower half is some kind of undiscovered deep-sea oarfish! My class gets to partake in the study!" As soon as he finished speaking, he bit his tongue. It probably wasn't the best thing to blurt out right after being accused of being a shrine-building murderer. It was just that the opportunities that they'd have from this would be incredible- more mermaid physiology, a new species, chemical analysis, maybe even swimming physics among other stuff.

 

"Okay, uh, how about I buy you coffee and lunch, and you give my bag back? If you want my notes I'll copy them for you, it's just quite important that I have them back at all. And, uh," he turned to address the newcomer. "I'll buy you coffee too, just don't tell Research Team Echo that we're getting the oarfish. Don't tell the anyone else either, actually. Think of it like a bribe for your silence, I guess?"

[Eto]

Villads took an awkward step back as the other nearly slammed straight into him, concerned. The pink-haired boy had an expression of alarm on his face, as if he couldn't quite believe this was exactly what his life had come to.

 

"So you just left it?" he screeched. In his emotion-filled state, Villads didn't even notice the fact he had removed most of the backpack's weight unintentionally.

 

"Most?" He glanced suspiciously at the other. "What part of the most? Oh my god, you're a radical, aren't you, I've heard of your kind, this is why mom told me not to go the big city, what kind of shady stuff are you even involved in--" Then again, he was the one waking up passed out on a park bench. Probably not the right person to talk about this. Right. Yes. His guitar.

 

The ... library fees?

Villads glanced at the other. Okay, the fees he could make sense of--the last time he read a book was in fifth grade, but he had to respect someone who didn't want to lose money. It was tight these days, especially with how the economy was going.

Just as he was going to relax his guard, the other suddenly said something about 'family heirlooms'. What?

"What kind of creep are you," he blurted out. What family heirlooms? A brooch? His grandmother's ashes? An actual sword from the fifth century? He needed to know what he was dealing with here. "Actually," he said, matter-of-factly, "you never know about the value thing. I'm poor enough to consider selling you for three hot pockets and a bed that's not a park bench." Okay, so he wasn't homeless, per se, but he also didn't count strangers' couches as much comfort in living.

 

At the other's exclamation upon reading something about ... captured mermaids?

The Lord give me strength, Villads thought, even though he was not religious in any way--was the boy a sadist? Just his luck. He stole a radical sadist's grandmother's ashes.

 

However, Villads perked up at the last mention of food. Alright, sadist, radical, actual consumer of grandmother's ashes aside, anyone offering to buy him lunch couldn't be half bad. Especially if Villads was going to take him to the nearest restaurant and order the most expensive thing he could find. And coffee too? Starbucks, watch out. He's coming.

"Why would I want your notes?" he asked. "Are you a student or something? Wait, how old are you? Do you have a wine cellar and hate-read Nietzsche in your spare time?"

He gave a slight, sharp laugh. "Bribery. A perfect way to end the day. Anyway, buy me lunch. And Starbucks. Venti double Ristretto half-soy nonfat decaf organic chocolate brownie iced vanilla double-shot Gingerbread Frappuccino extra hot with foam whipped cream upside down and double blended, please." He took a breath after reciting his favourite order by heart, bless. "Oh, and here's your bag."

 

The conveniently weight-removed bag was forgotten, maybe due to lack of oxygen after the huge sentence he just said, and Villads ended up casually throwing the thing to the boy. A little too hard. Enough for it to sail beautifully up in an arch and land across the crosswalk.

 

"Oh," Villads said.

 

[Nanashi]

It... Took nearly no effort to send Bhrys spinning through the water with a squeaky noise, and they took a bit to reorient themselves before huffing and blowing another bubble. Deciding that they might as well leave the two to their verbal fight- if they kept doing this, he could call for backup; he did know that one sea goat, after all, that would be more than willing to deal with a fight, even if he lost again- the small sea serpent moved to instead slam themselves against the rock in an attempt to move it.

Sure, it hurt, but... So did their nose. And the human had helped them with that, so...

With another bubble, they slammed themselves against the rock again, perking up when it moved. Just a few more hits...

 

"...I barely met you, and you're already offering to take me to meet your father?" Tyne, no flirting. Too late, apparently, though. "As flattered as I am... Ah. Well, why not, actually? I have nothing better to do." And if he made himself seem good and harmless to him, maybe it'd be easier to trick the mermaid. "Besides... It'd be interesting." And he mumbled something else to himself, but grinned, moving to relax and somewhat float in the water more than swim, waiting for her to take the lead.

 

Caithness slid to a stop as the two halted, and for a few moments, he was unable to completely process all they were saying. He shook his head, shivering, and covered his mouth, trying to find a way to communicate that he wouldn't, couldn't talk- It felt wrong and the words would always get caught in his throat, choking him.

Still with a hand over his mouth, he nodded in response to the stranger who... Had been rambling about mermaids, before turning his attention back to the other one, who seemed quite panicked over a guitar. He wasn't sure what to make of this; but, then again, he had only seen them partway through. How long had they been running? Caithness decided he didn't want to know, shaking his head and attempting to sign something out, letter by letter- He didn't know if either would be able to understand sign language, but it was worth a shot, right?

'I'm sorry I'm not a radical or anything I was just worried one of you would get hurt and-' He cut himself off as his hand stilled, realizing that he was signing too fast and too shakily for anyone to likely understand him.

Caithness... Was greatly beginning to regret having followed these two. Especially without a way to communicate, unless, by some miracle, one- or both- could understand his shaking hands. Or maybe charades would be a way to communicate? He wasn't sure, but...

...Coffee sounded nice. And maybe he could borrow a pencil or pen and a napkin to write down some things, speak to them in that way.

It was worth a shot, at least. Though, the one who tossed the bag- He was really making him rather worried over the fact of... Well, he didn't know the first thing about the 'radical'- In fact, what if he was one? What if he was going to try doing something to them What if he was going to suspect Caithness of being some underwater creature, and that was why he wouldn't talk, and take him for testing?

...The selectively mute male was afraid, now.

[Kiran]

"What'd you expect? You shoved it into my hands and ran off with my backpack!" Clearly, the boy hadn't thought things through. He seemed to care far more about the guitar than the bag. Perhaps it had been some kind of reaction to the disorientation of being awoken on a park bench with cold water to the face? It would explain some things, though Vogel preferred being punched.

 

He honestly didn't understand what the man was talking about. Which radicals? As far as he knew, there were several different radical groups, like the "harmony with nature" and the "kill them all" ones. "No! I'm not a radical, I think, I actually don't know what you mean and a definition would be really nice. There's nothing shady, as so far as I am aware." He wondered if claiming to be an orphan who lost all of their birth records in a tragic, cliche fire counted as 'shady'. Oh well. The boy didn't need to know that.

 

"It's... just an ordinary rock?" He cringed and looked away. "Yeah, sorry, that one was bad. Forget I said anything about heirlooms. I panicked?" As the implication of 'selling you' sunk in, his eyes widened. He forced them to relax; it was just a normal figure of speech. The man had no way of knowing, and the thievery was just a coincidence.

 

"You tell me; you're the one that took them. Yes, I'm a student, I'm, ah, twenty-two," he was pretty sure that was what the official documents said now- as long as he hadn't had a birthday recently. "What? No, how would I be able to afford wine cellar if I'm a student, or have time to read, uh, he's some kind of philosopher, right? How old are you? I'm Vogel, by the way, if this is going to be some kind of introduction."

 

Taking a breath, he paused to give the other boy some attention. He looked somewhat confused and frightened, and was doing something with his hands. Oh, it was probably a sign language, given that he hadn't heard the boy speak. More evidence that he should have taken that class. "Sorry, I can't- I should have some paper in my bag, if that'll help. Ah. No writing utensils, though." He didn't really need pens, and not having any worked pretty well to keep people from asking to borrow them. "Sorry about that."

 

Vogel felt his eyes glazing over as the boy listed his coffee order. He didn't even realize some of those qualifiers existed, and he wasn't a stranger to coffee. "Ah. Would you mind repeating that?"

 

He shrieked slightly as his bag was thrown over his head and across the crosswalk. Barely waiting for a car to pass, he rushed across the street. As soon as he reached it, he pulled open the zipper and thrust his hand underneath the books. He sighed in relief. It was completely irrational, he knew. There would have been no chance for it to even be opened since he'd last had it. Still, it was reassuring to be holding his bag again. Holding it too his chest instead of putting it on, he stood up and walked back across the street far more carefully than he had. "Okay. Thanks, I suppose. You get your guitar, and us three will meet in that Starbucks there, yeah? Oh!" He pulled a thick notebook out of his bag, flipped to a page that wasn't covered in diagrams of respiratory systems, and held it out to the second boy. "In case you manage to find a pen, if you want it?"

[Nanashi]

Caithness had gathered by now that these two were nothing near friends. Or acquaintances, even. They didn't seem to get along at all- One had taken the other's backpack, and the other had dropped a guitar off on a bench...? He still wasn't sure what was going on, but he had to admit, it was... Sort of interesting, as terrified as he happened to be. He still wasn't sure if he was safe there or not.

 

At least it seemed like the one man- Vogel- wasn't about to hurt either of them. He hoped not, at least. That was not why he had followed them, after all. No, he had come to make sure they were both okay- The opposite, even, but it seemed it wasn't needed. Both were fine, after all. Uninjured and healthy, if a bit irritated at each other. But that wasn't his power; He couldn't help with that, especially seeing as there was no way for him to communicate with either of them. Maybe? He wasn't sure if the other would, by some miracle, understand him, but... It was doubtful. He didn't put much hope into it. After all, not many people really seemed to know it that well. Which was a shame; It really was useful to know, and-

 

He jumped, taken out of his thoughts as Vogel turned to him to speak, looking even more terrified than before. He relaxed a bit at his words, though, realizing he meant no harm to him. He paused, before nodding in thanks, smiling weakly. He could probably find something to write with, after all. Though it might be difficult, it'd at least give him a way to 'talk' to the two- Even if it wasn't the most efficient way, it was better than charades. Charades, Caithness had learned, were very hard to make others understand properly. Too many things you could mean.

 

He, himself, nearly yelped when the man ran across the street, stumbling back a bit and already preparing to hum something to help- But he knew it wouldn't be much use, as if he really got hurt, the male would barely be able to do anything to help. But it didn't look like he was going to, as he approached again, holding the bag, and the younger male let out a shaky sigh of relief, the most noise he had made so far.

 

He nodded at what he had said, jolting when he pulled the notebook out; Caithness accepted it with still shaking hands, smiling thankfully and nodding to him. That was... Awfully kind, honestly, and he appreciated it quite a bit.

 

Now, all he needed was a pen or pencil...

 

((Realized this is easier to read than a block of text-))

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Engel felt the rock shift. Getting desperate she wedged herself between the rock and the wall, back against the bolder, knees to her chest against the opening. She waited to push with the next hit.

 

 

 

Atasi lead the way to her dad. "Well, he's a kind one, and he's very big but very wise. Plus I want to know if he returned safely." She said swimming until she saw her dad, going faster for a moment and stopped seeing the other serpent. "Daddy?" She said tentatively.

 

 

 

Ejderha shifted his body, hiding the cave from view as the little sea serpent tried to get the human out. "Why have you come here? " He asked, keeping his voice calm and void of emotion. His eyes flicked to Atasi for a second before looking at the sea serpent once more.

[Eto]

"But you left it there!" Villads accused. "For anyone to take! Why can't you just run with it or something? What if it's stolen? That thing cost me like sixty dollars!" It was secondhand, yes, but it was also his pride and joy, and frankly Villads' mind was conjuring up all sorts of terrible situations his beloved guitar could probably be in at this very moment.

 

Villads glanced at the other, thinking. "Just you saying that is shady in itself," he murmured, hastily looking away. Okay, so maybe he didn't have fair grounds to accuse the other of anything, but he would go down trying. Especially after this boy had just left his sweet, precious guitar to the mercy of whatever cruel pedestrian happened to pass by.

 

"A rock?" Villads wanted to slam his head onto the cement. Repeatedly. It was official, this boy is was out of his mind. He decided to go with the higher ground and instead accept the boy's small explanation of panic for his apparently family-honoured rock, and focus on other things.

 

"A student at twenty-two?" That was almost as bad as being a radical extremist. Okay, not really. Okay, maybe Villads was interested. And a little envious. "What're you studying?" he asked.

 

"Nineteen," Villads answered, "and I'm Villads. Villads Lind."

 

"Oi!" Villads watched as the newly-dubbed Vogel all but streaked across the street, barely managing to avoid a car, towards his backpack. The pink-haired boy felt his nerves break out--whatever was in that backpack couldn't have been that important, right? Certainly not labelled "fragile" with a capital F?

 

"Uh," he said, as Vogel came walking back around. "Sorry about that," he murmured. "I--uh--yeah. Okay." With that in mind, Villads turned to hide both his embarrassment and fetch his beloved guitar. As he turned, he spared a glance at the other boy, who had remained silent until now, and who, apparently, Vogel didn't know?

 

Huh. Strange.

 

"See you around," he said to the other, wondering if the silent boy could understand. Hopefully? He seemed to comprehend, just not speak. Villads suddenly found himself wondering if he should've paid more attention in school, with sudden twenty-two year old genius extremists with valued rocks and strange white-haired mute boys appearing in his life. Ah, the city. What wonders.

 

Villads headed back to the park, and, to his great delight, his guitar was sitting there, waiting. He immediately walked over and picked it up, sighing contently.

[HomeForFlowers]

It wasn't hard to foresee Li-on's response. She agreed to plenty of Takuma's plans which was probably because he only really had one plan. Still, that didn't mean Takuma couldn't enjoy hearing her agree to work with him.

 

"Ah-ha," he exclaimed, grinning victoriously. "I knew you couldn't resist my charms." He raised his chin as he momentarily basked in the glory of being accepting. Said glory was short-lived as he realized, as per usual, didn't really have that great of a plan. Li-on probably knew that, just about everyone who knew Takuma was aware he improvised more than a little, but he could play around and act like he had a grand plan that he had thought about for more than five seconds.

 

"So, this may be a little dangerous," Takuma admitted with a strained look. "When I say a little I mean this plan may or may not require us to walk on land and it may or may not mean I don't have a map and we'll have to find out where we're going on our own." It wouldn't be the first time Takuma wandered among humans, but he knew little about Li-on's own experience with the land walkers. "Oh uh, I might bring someone else along as well," Takuma quickly tacked on. "Maybe. Depends if I see anyone interesting enough or not."

[Kiran]

Vogel was quite bemused by how protective the boy seemed over his guitar, but then, he of all people couldn't judge. Mostly, it was strange that the boy was complaining about the possibility of anyone taking it when he had shoved it into a stranger's hands, but oh well. People frequently justified their decisions in irrational manner.

 

On the plus side, the boy didn't seem so convinced that he was a shady, radical murderer anymore! He hadn't admitted that he was wrong, but his reaction was close enough for it to count as a sort-of apology. Vogel was making progress with him, though he wasn't sure what for. Silently, he thought that the boy's coffee order probably cost more than his guitar had.

 

Vogel nodded. Being a student at twenty-two was normal, right? He grinned as he answered the question that followed. Someone other than a classmate was interested in his studies? "Marine biology, technically, but practically a huge portion of it's been shifted to sapient sea life recently. Especially with a coastal city like here- you wouldn't believe all of the breakthroughs we've been making."

 

He stared at a bird in the distance. "Like, I wonder if this is how it feels, to discover a new island filled with unknown animals? But it's all right there, and always has been. Humans, they just didn't realize it until now. It's like, everyone living here is a part of history, you feel?"

 

Too late, he realized that he had talked a bit more then intended when he had to stop to catch his breath. "Ah, sorry about that," he said, turning his gaze downwards.

 

"Don't worry about it; I think nothing's broken. Unless the ink... hopefully nothing's broken. It looked fine, anyway. It doesn't matter; how did you do that? It was amazing- your power? Wait, your guitar- tell me about it later, yeah?"

 

Villads left, and Vogel addressed the silent boy. "To the coffee shop, then?" He hoped the boy actually wanted coffee- truth be told, he hadn't been paying as much attention to him. Villads had been a more pressing concern, what with the thievery and accusations and ridiculous coffee orders.

[Nanashi]

Bhrys sucked in a deep breath through their nose, the water filtering out through their gills, before slamming into it once more- And it was moving more! Their gills flicked back in relief, as well as for searching the water for any sign of the human. Sure, it wasn't moved much, but... With her help, it was at least enough space for her to sneak out of.

 

They weren't sure what to do now that she was free, though. They hadn't really... Thought that far, more worked on impulse and went with the first thought they had. Slightly because they were still irritated that another sea serpent was in their territory, as small as said territory was, and had acted like they owned the place- Really! Did no one have manners nowadays? Bhrys had to keep themselves from releasing another bubble and wasting their breath out of annoyance.

 

--

 

Tyne followed, silent and wary, behind Atasi. As they approached, though, he moved slower, eyeing the scene. Two- three sea monsters, and... Was that a human, in the cavern one of them had just opened? His interest was taken now, and he eyed the human for a moment longer, before shifting to attempt to conceal himself from view of the other serpent.

 

"I think he's a bit busy," Tyne noted quietly. "...But there's a human over there." And a nod in the direction, the merman keeping his voice down. "Perhaps they could use our help getting free of this place...?"

 

--

 

Caithness watched as- Villads, he registered- set off, fidgeting with his hands as he worried his lip. There was a jolt as Vogel spoke to him, stilling his actions as he turned to face him, before slowly nodding with a cautious smile. He gestured for the other to lead, forcing himself to relax, as being all tensed up likely would tire him out. Besides, maybe this really was safe. Worst that happened, they were in a public area, at least- No one would try anything too bad there, right?

 

Though... His mind flicked back to what he had said about the sapient life forms in the sea, and he frowned slightly again. He couldn't help it; It just... Didn't seem right, to him. Sure, they were dangerous, but... He just didn't think it was really what people should be doing. Especially since they were sentient- But at the same time...

 

...It was safer this way, right? And besides, it wasn't affecting him, specifically. So... It didn't really matter what he thought of it, he decided. He'd never have to personally deal with the consequences- Right?

[Nanashi]

((Bump!))