aionlogs | [CLOSED] lizard times

[ leaning in, pinching Himeka's... ear-mermaid-fin. that's what this is, clearly?? since she's the Little Mermaid. he has no idea if she even feels this, so he's being very gentle just... in case?? but still-- ]

--On second thought? You should head right on back to Greentruth as soon as you can. Immediately. Let's go.

[ Himeka just kind of blinks at him.

(To Abel's credit, most people don't assume they're anything like ears, so good job.)

Her horns are not particularly pinchable--nope, they're pretty sturdy, like hard cartilage, but not solid. They may be hollow or at least very soft on the inside and the texture is a bit velvety and smooth.

She definitely feels it. But her horns may be harder than his hand. (Presumably?? Mr. Space Vampire?)

She slowly raises a brow. ]

...Why? I just got here.

[ wow stop he is NOT a space-rabies infected vampire haha what, this is a perfectly normal human pair of human fingies gently pinching (and now... experimentally squishing?? he's curious so sue him) this mermaid-fin-ear. ...yes. ]

Hm? Oh, no reason. I just think it would be for the best. Did you leave the oven on...? Did you check?

[ squish.

...squish. (it isn't squishing, for the record.) oh. this is. cool...? this is cool!! don't mind him haha just exploring the world, and his friend, I guess, ]

Erm...

[ What is he doing? ]

There's not really an "on" in the "ovens" in Greentruth...

[ Okay it's one thing to pinch her horn--she's definitely pinched an ear or two in her time once she found out how sensitive those silly things are, poor...nearly every other race out there. Not everyone can be lucky as Au Ra--it's another to start feeling them up or whatever it is he's doing!

But you don't just start touching another person's horns all willy-nilly, Mr. Nightroad. And the fact that Miss Shameless herself is starting to look a little red in the face should say enough. ]

...W-...what are you trying to do?

[ Her tail starts to thump on the mattress behind her. ]

[ wow, haha, this really is neat?? it's surprisingly smooth, too, is the super interesting part?? he's obviously just. you know.

ch-checking it out?? nothing WEIRD is happening??

... ]

What...? What do you mean the ovens don't have an 'on'? Then they'd always be off, Himeka, that doesn't seem very practical. How would you cook anything? Goodness, I didn't realize things were that bad in Greentruth.

[ .......... ]

[ Look, she's giving him the benefit of the doubt because Abel is WOEFULLY without horns. But it's okay, it's not his fault, she doesn't hold it against him. So of course he wouldn't be familiar with what is considered taboo or not in Auri society. Himeka likes to think she's generally free of those constraints at this juncture in her life but... ]

...They're--like...stone...clay things--

[ Nope. She can't ignore this. ]

--Abel, why are you stroking my horn?

Oh. --Oh! Like an open flame!! Well that makes a lot, more...

[ sense...? why is she looking, ah. like she's...

...

....

......... ]

[ --oh, God.

his entire body has gone still. he isn't even breathing. it's like he forgot how to Exist...? ]

[ --AH, there we go! back in action! all at once he is jerking his hand back -- jerking his entire body back, in fact, with the fervor one might expect from one having been burned, face turning a bright and impressively tomato red as he finds his feet. Abel's flailing his hands placatingly in some plea to clear this misunderstanding-- ]

S-- stroking?! I'm not-- stroking, I was just-- I thought they were n... nea... neat, you--

[ --oh my god. oh my god. oh my god no help what ]

Edited (html i swear to god do NOT) 2022-07-15 03:08 (UTC)

[ Abel suddenly recoils like he's burned himself on the ovens he thinks that Greentruth should has or been pricked by the biggest prickly angry poison-y bush in the Shroud as Himeka's hand goes to the horn he was touching automatically. ]

You were definitely stroking!

[ She wants to make that very clear, okay! It's her horn, she knows what was happening to it. Now she rubs the bottom of her own horn a bit. (Looks, it's different when she does it than when someone else does it.) At least her tail thumping has slowed down. ]

...Which..I figure wasn't your intent...

[ So you're off the hook for that at least, Abel. ]

...But it's really the only sort of thing you do with a lover, you know? So if that was what you were going for I'll admit I didn't really come prepared for a quickie.

[ A beat. ]

Though I suppose that's why they call it a quickie, isn't it?

[ Hm... ]

I-I was nOT [ his voice cracked ] str... --Will you stop saying that word?!

[ oh, no. oh no. he's graduating from tomato to lobster red -- is it approaching a purplish hue?? perhaps, and now his hand-waving is only graduating in enthusiasm to the next level. he's looking vaguely Indignant to boot?? god, ]

I was me... merely taking a gander at what a mermaid's fin feels like since I--

[ --and then she goes and says the "L" word,

and the next word squeaks to silence in his throat as if it is physically lodged there. his mouth works impotently. his eyes are wide in his skull in an abject

horror

as the full breadth of this miscommunication washes over him in whole.

ah. ...ah.

sorry-- the Abel you are trying to reach is not available at this moment. please wait approximately three seconds for him to perform a Reboot and Recovery System Restore. please be cautioned that Abels have been known to meltdown after recovery processes resume, so safeguarding measures for one's safety may be necessary. thank you for your patience and attention to this matter. ]

[ She's only speaking truth, GOSH. Maybe he shouldn't go around stroking people's horns if he doesn't want them to call him out for stroking his horns? Then she wouldn't need to say that word.

He's taking a gander... ]

At my what?

[ Except there's no response. Abel, pale Abel, has turned colors she never expected to see in someone of his pallor. Himeka's own face is steadily returning to normal after the misunderstanding--really, she was caught more off guard than anything. But... ]

...Uh.

[ She does, in fact, wait three seconds. It's almost as if she skimmed the instruction manual. But any longer than that...she does lean forward a bit and looks like she's going to poke him.

Will he explode? ]

...Abel?

[ and as if on cue, Abel is abruptly lurching back into action -- flailing his head in a vigorous back and forth no gesture-- ]

H-- Himeka, [ it leaves him in a breathy wheeze, and he surely looks like he's about to keel over, ] --I think I just blacked out. I-- I feel faint. Am I dying...? Is this what having one's soul called to His loving, awaiting hands is like, I--

[ ...... ]

[ Himeka pulls back, eyes widening in surprise as Abel.exe seems to reboot on it's own. She blinks once. Twice. ]

Erm...

[ Well, he is all sorts of new colors so she may as well offer him a Cure I just in case. Enjoy this little light show and gentle tickle of healing magic. ]

Feeling better?

[ oh, now she's trying to KILL HIM with her MAGIC, great. great!! honestly, he wouldn't much mind being put out of his misery and he's slumping to just

sit, right there on the floor

instead of on the bed, like a civilized human being. just sitting on the floor, his head hung, now miserably drawing his knees to his chest like he's five and he was just told he can't go play outside with his friends.

m-mumbling into his knees, ]

No. I'm not feeling better. And your bubble-magic makes my nose feel tingly in a very abnormal way and now I have to sneeze, a... and you're-- you ca... can't just go around saying those kinds of things, it just isn't done, alright?!

[ ?????? ]

[ Oh gods, he's on about the stroking thing? Himeka's hands drop to hold onto the side of the mattress as she regards Abel on the floor with an expression that is two parts confused, one part bemused, and one part just...well we don't know, but there's another part to put on hold for a moment. ]

...Mmmmmm.

[ She knows he has a penchant for dramatics at this point but she's usually on the same page as him with them, isn't she? ]

You mean...

[ A friend would be understanding. Clearly something about this misunderstanding has upset him deeply. ]

Like...

[ But... ]

...Stroking?

[ ...a good friend would keep poking because that's the funniest outcome. ]

[ --whipping up from his sad Pity Pile, he's brandishing his finger like a WEAPON up at her face-- ]

It was NOT STROKING!!

[ oh my god, that left him... louder than he intended, and he's only serving to re-invigorate the flush of heat in his face that had started to abate. GOD, what is HAPPENING?? ]

What, do you-- want me to stoke your-- mermaid-fin?! Hm? Is that what this is really about? HM?! Is this some sort of proposition, Himeka, because I did not imagine that is why you came to visit me here, and I am no cheap hussy for your information!!

[ This time instead of being shocked when he whirls around and sticks a finger in her face, Himeka just smiles. ]

My "mermaid-fin"?

[ Abel, please. Were you too concerned with your stroking taboo that you didn't hear what she said? ]

I just told you--they're my horns.

[ The accusation just--it sends a bubble of laughter up from her diaphragm and right out in a surprising burst. She has to hold her stomach to try and keep her composure. ]

Ah, but you said these weren't your working hours! I wouldn't want you to clock on just for me.

Edited (clock on, clock off...same thing) 2022-07-15 04:44 (UTC)

[ h-- hah. admittedly, the sound of her laughter pealing out of her with such enthusiasm is making it a bit hard to keep up with the petulant indignation, and for a second-- just a second-- perhaps the expression of a pouty irritation falters and almost betrays a smile.

almost.

but he's quite dedicated to his work, you see -- the work of being a Grade A idiot, n-not the... other work she's insinuating, for the record -- and Abel thusly doubles down, folding his arms over his chest and regarding her with an accusatory skepticism. ]

Please~! Please, don't even joke-- I know better than to mix business with pleasure. --I-in the way of friendships, I mean, I'm-- I mean I don't involve my friends in w... work matters, so--

--Oh, dear God.

[ he's wilting bit like a flower gone too long without water to palm face in his hand. ]

For the love of all things holy, please... please let us change the subject. Please.

[ He's doing good. He's doing very good and she will definitely silently commend him to keeping it up. But she respects a plea for mercy especially when this was really all just a silly understanding.

It's hard to really cross her boundaries in a way that makes her upset and she doesn't believe Abel's intentions were anything other than simple curiosity no matter how she's ribbing him for it. She manages to pull herself together long enough to try and abate Abel's fears. ]

Alright, alright...

[ He's spared for now. Himeka lets her hand slide from her stomach to her lap as she shakes her head, her shoulders still shaking a bit from holding back a giggle fit. ]

I know it was a misunderstanding. No hard feelings, I promise.

[ She offers what she hopes he takes as a sincere smile on her part. Now her tail is only swishing lightly in amusement. ]

Though if you did want to see my scales you only need to ask.

[ To prove her point, she rolls up her sleeve and holds out her arm to him--completely innocuous and church-approved pieces of skin, right? ]

You don't really have people like me on your star, do you?

[ o-oh, well. this is good; this is fine, he thinks... yes, yes, this is fine! transitioning from one phase of conversation to the next -- so he'll lumber up from the floor where he'd been throwing his temper tantrum and instead (albeit grudgingly) sit at the bed beside her again.

...because he IS, admittedly, still quite curious about these ~~mermaid~~ scales. thus, he's leaning in a bit to observe her arm, giving her a glance as though to ask for permission before gently running a finger across one at her forearm. ]

Well-- no, I'm afraid not...

[ it truly is... fascinating. ]

In my world, there are two races of intelligent human life; that is Methuselah-- a long-lived race of beings that must consume blood to survive, a vampire?-- and humans. While it's possible for some Methuselah to change their anatomy - maybe even grow scales or transform parts of their bodies into animal parts... it's rather rare, and I don't think I've heard of any quite like this!

[ his eyes slide from her arm, curiosity and awe alike in his gaze. ]

I can say with some certainty that I've never met anyone quite like you, Himeka! ...In more ways than one.

[ She's glad to see him calm down himself, enough to peel himself off the floor he so dejectedly dumped himself on. She watches the recover with the same quiet patience she usually has and only nods to his own questioning gaze.

Truth be told it's kind of nice to have someone be curious about her heritage and not automatically assume she's part of the scalekin roaming the forests. Himeka may have left the Ruby Sea but she has always been proud to be an Au Ra, even when she is the only one around. And being an inherently curious person herself, she really can't blame Abel for wanting to know, now can she?

Her scales feel much the same as her horns did, albeit smaller and more patchworked in the way he is likely expecting.

But it's when he starts to give her a clearer vision of his world that Himeka is immediately paying close attention. ]

Me...thuselyah? Selah.

[ Testing out the word there. It doesn't quite roll off the tongue but not so bad.

His final appraisal does get a small chuckle from her as she inclines her head slightly towards him. ]

I can say with plenty of certainty you're pretty unique yourself, Abel.

[ With absolute certainty, she should probably say. ]

And I'm very glad to have met you.

[ But now that he's given her something to chew on, she's not going to let go of that line. ]

We have vampires of sorts though I haven't met many. I believe they're all Voidsent? Though a lot of things are Voidsent that you wouldn't expect. Like Fat Cats.

[ Clearly being a Voidsent does not mean you are bad. And sometimes people bathe in the blood of the locals and ascend to new heights by just being, you know, weird messed up and awful people. But that's neither here nor there. ]

So these Methuselah and humans are the only ones? What sort of blood do they need? Do they share the same cities and regions? How big is your star?

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