[open] after a while they always get it

[rorosa]

Date & Time: 12/02 - ANY TIME AT ALL. YOU DECIDE.
Location: rural parts of the outlands; very occasionally the city streets
Characters: Corosa Nyem (rorosa), Rosalyn Cross (redemptio), Aileen Kimbler (seamend), Tier Halibel (sacrificar), Simmaeri (allsongs), ... and anyone else who wants to say hi I guess (though fyi, these are all mostly wrap-up threads; this character will be dropped soon)
Summary: COROSA CONTINUES TO BE A CRANKY SMELLY HOBO. possibly passes some interesting info on before he leaves. possibly gets some new clothes god.
Warnings: N/A

[ ooc: for characters explicitly named above, threads are started below: rosalyn, aileen, halibel, simmaeri ]

[ Corosa's a common sight out in the nicer parts of the outlands; he avoids the hollowed-out cities and anything that looks even slightly urban, but he's right at home in what little countryside there is. It's now been long enough that he's quite familiar with the lands out here, and getting better at hunting game.

You might find him shooting at trees for target practice, or stalking after a ... seven-antlered buck. Or maybe asleep out in the open. Maybe perched on top of a hill to squint suspiciously at the sprawling ruins that he's been so diligently steering clear of for the past month or so. Or maybe just wandering around squinting suspiciously at the world in general, that's a thing he does. ]

Comments

[closed to aileen kimbler | 12/04 morning, koltira's lake]

[rorosa]

[ Given how little human contact he's had here, Corosa's very good at remembering faces. And places. There'd been the... man at the lake, and on a whim, Corosa decides to duck down that way to see if the man's there.

There's no particular reason for him to visit. But this world is emptier than the one he'd come from, and he's unaccustomed to spending days on end without seeing another face.

However, when he arrives, the cabin, the lake, and the surrounding shores all look deserted from a distance. A little disappointed, Corosa draws in anyway, as close as the lake's edge. He tilts his head, and lingers, eyes searching for signs of life. ]

SCREAAAMMM MM M

[seamend]

[ Underneath the water, Aileen had managed to find a nice spot down in the thick plantlife for a bed. Its relaxation she hasn't had since childhood, but its a more that welcome change in her life now.

A good-sized fish zips by her line of sight, and for the moment she decides to take up the chase. They loop around the bottom but eventually curve higher, stirring the surface in the process.

A few more seconds of this pass until her hands reach their prize, resulting in a violent splash upwards just at the center. ]

SHHH SOOTHES

[rorosa]

[ Corosa starts when he hears the splash, staggering back a few feet. His gun is drawn, leveled, but his finger is not quite on the trigger yet -- he waits to see what's coming at him.

He frowns. Something silvery (he assumes a fish) and then... hands...?

He digs his feet a little harder into the dirt and waits, hand steady. ]

[seamend]

[ Her fingernails grip into the fish, pulling it down as quickly as it had leaped up in the air. There's silence yet again, only the sound of the water slowly settling back into stillness...

Aileen herself is still too, meal thrashing about in her hands. Had she heard footsteps just now? Close to the edge, too. ...Hmm.

Her head raises up through the surface, only green eyes, webbed ears and wet clinging hair visible. She freezes, eyes dropping from Corosa's own face to his gun, then flicking back up; questioning, shocked. ]

ASSUMING THAT COROSA GOT AILEEN'S NAME HOPE THAT'S OK ;~;

[rorosa]

Ah!

[ Corosa doesn't know whether to put his finger on the trigger or lower the gun, so he just freezes in place instead. The hair, the face... looks like... Aileen? He remembers her. She'd given him food. But....

He swallows. ]

What-- what happened?

'SALL GOOD ASSUMING THE SAME TBH

[seamend]

[ Aileen lurches upward, water pouring from her mouth as it gapes open. She stares, blinking. It's... Corosa?

Pause. More water coming from her mouth and nose as she clears way for the air necessary to speak. ]

There's no need-- [ Gasp ] To shoot!

[rorosa]

[ Oh sweet merciful heavens, it speaks--

--she speaks. Right. She. Not a... monster... Aileen...? What? This is the sound of Corosa's brain slowly shutting down.

He lowers the gun. Only slightly. Maybe she's been infected, or, or something, maybe it's like being a werewolf, maybe she'll attack now, maybe anything will happen next. Hell if he knows what's going on.

He backs away a little, too. ]

Are-- are you all right?

[seamend]

[ Funny, Aileen hasn't seen this kind of reaction in forty years; a gun pointed at her too; Deja vu.

Okay, okay. Just take it slow, no sudden movements. ] Yes. this is-- obviously quite shocking to see, but please, let me explain.

[ A few feet away from where her head is a scaly tail rises up just enough to touch the air. Oh look Corosa: Fins! ] Are you familiar with mermaids?

[rorosa]

[ Corosa damn near chokes when he sees the tail -- and accompanying fins -- but thankfully for both of them, years of careful training and conditioning keep him from panicking and going trigger-happy.

This is a lot to take in, at once. ]

I... believe I am.

[ Sort of. Not in a friendly manner. ]

[seamend]

[ Bullets aren't flying, that's progress, right?

Aileen moves her tail back out of sight, takes a breath. She's starting to catch the hints, that this might not just be the general reaction to something strange. ]

Then you're familiar with the shape you see me in now. I give you my word, that I am not dangerous. But... you might prefer better proof than that?

[rorosa]

[ Corosa stares at her almost unblinkingly. When he answers, it's out of the corner of his mouth. ]

I might.

[ Look, if she's going to offer it, he's going to take it. Skeptically. Suspiciously. ]