uisgeannan | mermaid shenanigans au

[It depends if she's confident enough to look back and see if he's still there. Because as soon as ripples are gone, it's like he was never even there. The sun beaming off the water also hides any escape route he might've taken--it's impossible to tell if he's swam off into the deeper ocean, or is heading straight for shore.]

[She doesn't, of course. Because that would entail common sense and we all know she's lacking in that particular quality.

Euri heads further inland, going over the plant's appearance. Apparently it's an aquatic fern with indigo and purple flowers. Supposedly it only grows on this island, in a lagoon. The thought of more water makes her wary, but a lagoon isn't nearly as bad as the entire ocean.

It takes her about an hour to find the lagoon, and when she does she practically stumbles upon the area by accident. But she's pleased with herself, and heads down to the edge of the water to start searching.]

[Of course, the island has several sea caves running through it's core. And it's through one of these, that the male navigates his way into the island's waterways.

It takes him a few stops, too, to find the right destination, because he doesn't know exactly what she's after. But he has a good guess, and when he finds himself in that very same lagoon, he hides himself deep near it's bottom, resting against the sea grass that flourishes in the relatively still water.

The trees here are overgrown with dangling vine, and branches, too, which further shades it from the sun. So he has no fear of her catching a glimpse of pale skin or yellow eyes lurking beneath the water's surface.]

[It's made worse by her poor eyesight. She does her best to check for any movement in the water, but she doesn't notice anything unusual and after about ten minutes Euri starts to wade into the water, curvy pale legs quite obvious in the darker waters. She focuses on areas overgrown with other aquatic plants, sweeping them aside and digging through them to find what she's looking for.

It's tough work, especially since she's trying to remain aware of her surroundings, but if she finds it the payoff will be worth it.]

[She'll definitely find what she's looking for! After searching the edges, she should notice some of those tell-tale fern fronds growing out of the water, along with a couple purple and indigo flowers. There's only a couple of them, which seems to match with the idea that they're a very rare sight.

And they're growing just beyond where the lagoon bottom drops off to chest-deep water.]

[Of course they do.

For a moment Euri actually thinks the water is much deeper, hesitating at the edge because she can't swim. But experimentally she snatches up a rock and throws it near the plants. It's just dark enough for her eyes to follow, and she sighs with relief when she sees it isn't deep enough to go above her head.

But it means her dress will get wet again, and she doesn't want to deal with that again. It would take at least another hour for it to dry....

Chewing on her lip, Euri makes her way to the shore. There's only that idiot human around, and there's no way he would find her, so... she proceeds to yank her dress off, laying it out on some rocks before turning and heading back to the plants.

There, now she only has to deal with wet underwear. That's a lot less uncomfortable, so with a deep breath she steps forward into the deeper water. It's a little cooler and makes her shiver, but the plants are practically within reach now and that's all that matters.]

[Naturally. B)

For a second, he wonders if she isn't giving up, when she heads back to the water's edge. But it doesn't take more than a few minutes for her to strip, and return, the sound of her movements through the water like an elephant in a china closet to his sensitive ears. Who'd have thought that Witches were even more clumsy in the water than humans?

Then again, it made sense that they would be. He'd never seen a Witch or Warlock brave the ocean before, which made him more than a little interested in drawing this out. The chance that he'd get to play with one again was pretty slim, so...

He lets her move closer to the plants, close enough to reach out and brush her hands against them, before he finally moves. Swimming slowly and silently forward, with a few movements of his tail.]

[While she's far from gentle with the water that isn't the case with the plants. As soon as she's close enough to them she doesn't yank them out. On the contrary - she carefully takes one of the flowers in her hands, examining it closely before following the stem to the main vine-like body of the plant. She'll need to find the roots and remove them carefully to avoid shocking it, but given that it's aquatic that process shouldn't be too difficult.

Unfortunately all of this means her concentration is focused on the plants, and not her surroundings.]

[Indeed, it seems to just be growing on top of some other lily pads, roots only extending around them to get to the fresh water filtering up to the lagoon's surface. A few of them are weaved around some stems, but it shouldn't be a difficult process of extracting them.

Shouldn't be, until she'll feel something cool and smooth brush along her calf. He's kind enough not to do it against the reverse side of his scales, since having something akin to sandpaper would probably take off a good portion of her skin if he did.]

[With her reaction one would've thought his sandpaper-y side was the side that touched her. Euri stiffens instantly, but she doesn't stay still for long. A split second later and she's flailing backwards, absolutely terrified as she tries to get back to the shallower waters.]

[HAHAHAHA. Oh man, he is laughing at you so hard right now, Euri.

But he doesn't pursue her, just watches as she scrambles back for the shore. Like earlier stated, he wants to have plenty of time to play with her.

Now the question is, is she brave enough to risk a second chance? Just how important are these plants, to her?]

[The poor thing goes right up onto the shore, shaking as her eyes dart around for any movement. She needs to know what touched her, damnit.

And once her breathing slows down she gathers up a handful of rocks, throwing them at that area. In case it was just a fish hopefully this will scare it off.]

[Oh, honey. Vanitas just watches as the rocks come floating down, still silently laughing to himself, and even does a little mirthful loop before he circles around and waits.

She thinks she's so clever, but just wait~]

[This is a perfectly good idea okay IT'S AMAZING.

Euri waits several minutes, to make sure whatever that was stays gone, before bravely entering the water again. This time she quickly makes her way to the plants, not hesitating as her hands follow the vines to their roots. From there she starts removing and untangling them.]

[She's tenacious, he'll definitely give her that.

But as soon as she starts untangling the plant from it's neighbors, he darts up from the bottom. And this time, he heads straight for the surface, head breaking from it suddenly but quietly no more than a few feet in front of her.

At first, he just smiles, eyes staring at her intensely again. Then, he beings to sing.]

[He's quiet enough that it takes a few seconds for her to notice him, but when her eyes lock with his all she can do is stare confusedly.

That human again?? But - how did he get here?? More importantly, how did he sneak up on her?! She should have heard him, humans aren't that quiet!

And then he starts to sing and she's overcome with the realization why he was able to sneak up on her. Horror dawns on her features as she grow even more pale, hands snapping up to cover her ears as she starts wading backwards.]

[Even if she covers her ears, he still keeps singing, voice alternating between tenor and falsetto, growing louder. There's a reason why sailors are unable to help themselves when under the thrall of a 'siren', and the same holds true for the males of the species.

But he's not casting a paralysis curse on her--no, this is something far more uncomfortable and insidious. He's weaving his control around her, and trying to bend her towards the water, to make her start submerging herself completely into it.]

[Euri even goes as far as squeezing her eyes closed, trying to block him out, but she doesn't stand a chance against fullblood magic. She can feel her legs bending down, bringing her head closer to the water.]

No...!

[He knows she can't fight it forever, and keeps singing, curse coming to an end before he begins to repeat it. His body lifts a little further out of the water, chest and arms rising above the surface as he swishes his tail back and forth for support. His more human half sways from side to side, though, eyes focused on her and a small smile curving his lips.

Down, down. Into the blue abyss where life begets strife, and finds only bliss...]

[The song is beautiful, like all curse songs, but Euri has never felt this terrified before. She manages to suck in a deep lungful of air before her head slips under the water completely.]

[When she does, he keeps singing the last two lines of the curse, knowing it'll vibrate through the water even if she has her head beneath. And when he's finished, he dives back beneath the water's surface, swimming towards her.

Reaching out, he takes one of her wrists by the hand and yanks her forward, pulling her off her feet and even deeper towards the lagoon's bottom. If she struggles, his hold on her remains firm, and vice-like, dragging her down until she can't hold her breath any more.]

[She most definitely does struggle, pulling her other hand away from her ear and trying to forcibly remove his from around her wrist. At the same time she brings a foot up to try and kick him in the head.]

[He just narrows his eyes at her efforts, smirk still in place though the deeper they go, the murkier and harder to see it becomes. His other hand blocks her attempt to kick him in the head, before the same arm wraps itself around her waist and pulls her closer.

And with her legs bare, she'll definitely be able to feel his tail propelling them through the water, past sea grass and rocks and into the stronger currents.]

[Despite his strength Euri doesn't give up. She keeps struggling, pushing at his chest when she's pulled closer. Eventually, even though it's getting hard to hold her breath, she realizes he wasn't just intending to pull her under the water and make her drown, but that they're actually going somewhere. She has no idea where though, so she keeps trying to wrench free of his grip.]

[In response, he just keeps a tighter hold on her, going so far as to release his grip on her wrist to hold her by the back of the neck as well as the waist.

Surprisingly, she's held her breath for much longer than he expected. But he needs for her to release it, soon, so that he can finish the last part of his curse. All the while, he keeps swimming back the way he came, light flickering as they move into the caves and it becomes much more disorienting from the holes in the coral formations above.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject