I did a little on the spot RP thing for (and later WITH) Shock while she drew pictures on that cool streaming thingy that EVERYBODY should check out. Gavin was awesome enough to save the chat so I cleaned it up a little bit and posted.
Some things were changed for better flow, or embellished because I have more time to think and faff about. Those of you who saw the original, well, hopefully this is to your liking.
Shock, if you draw them spooning I will explode, very messily, all over my house. Fair warning.
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From that night on he made it his mission in life to see the Lady in the Water. Every night (sans fishing rod) he was out there, knee deep in saltwater. Watching. Waiting. For a week he saw nothing. He waited until his green toes were pruny and his shins felt rubbery from the lapping waves.
Then, just before he was ready to give up, he caught movement. Not a wave or a fish. No, it was a bigger than a fish. Curvier than a wave.
The dark form in the water floated several yards out. Far too deep for him to go traipsing into the deep in his clothes. He fought the desire to tear everything off and go bounding in. No, this creature, this beauty, needed to be treated with care. Like the wild animals he knew so well, patience and persistence would be his reward.
For another week it was their ritual. Well, he called it their ritual. He didn't know what she thought of it. She waited for him in the deeper waters, he stayed in the shallows. She was just a shadow. Barely moving, never breaching the surface. Somehow, though, she seemed to get a little closer each time. Beast was certain that one night soon she would close the distance between them.
One night soon, he would meet his Lady in the Water.
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Beast was late. He had never been late before. Raven swam impatient laps along the sandbar for hours, peeking her head above the surface of the water every so often to check for him. His green feet failed to appear beneath the waves. Her concern intensified.
In the back of her mind she wondered, briefly, if he had finally lost interest in her. Somehow, the thought made something twist painfully in her chest. He had been so frustratingly persistent. At first she had been terribly offended. This strip of beach was her private sanctuary! What right did a scruffy green elf have invading it? She spent so many nights glaring daggers at his feet from beneath the surface. Intent on scaring him off with (what seemed to her) her obvious displeasure.
Yet, he came. Night after night he stood in the shallows, sometimes stock still and humming a tune. Other times he would stalk to and fro, plucking sea shells from the sand as he went. Somehow, his little things went from being obnoxious to almost… endearing. She found herself waiting for him, a foreign quickening beneath her sternum thrummed to life the moment his green feet broke the surface of the water. She wondered at the sensation. Rae had much time to herself to ponder what exactly it was she felt but never could she come up with a good answer.
That night she had finally resigned herself to ask her curious follower. That night she would find the courage to break her silence.
That night he failed to appear.
Hours passed. The moon hung high in the sky when she was struck with a thought. Is this what that boy felt waiting for me? In the distance the reed grass wove a subtle dance in the wind.
And then it wasn't subtle at all. Beast was there, crashing through the underbrush, panting. "W-wait!" He yelped, waving his free hand towards the ocean, though his eyes had yet to locate her. He stumbled forward, collapsing to his knees in the sand. Blood dribbled from between his fingers, held tight to his shredded shoulder. An inky black stain had spread across the front of his once-white tunic, down along his arm to pool at his bent elbow.
Raven was on the move before her mind could catch up, her heart beating a frantic throb in her ears. The deep blue gave way to cerulean shallows and frothy waves. Her palms met sand, crawling her way up out of the water.
For his part, Beast tried to meet her half way. He managed to get his wobbly feet back under him. The scrapes on his shins protesting every painful movement he made. Her tail became deadweight as the water receded, yet she continued to drag herself forward. He stumbled a handful of steps closer. Then his world tunneled and he went down again.
He swore he heard his Lady cry out for him.
Raven crawled the few yards left between them. Sand bit into her elbows as she cursed the gods for the cruelties of gravity. She reached his head first, as he had fallen forward towards the water. With a great heave she hauled herself to his side, clutching his bloody face in her arms. Her wet hair dribbled on his face, rousing him from his stupor. The deepest emeralds she had ever seen blinked up at her blearily.
"H-hullo." His voice cracked when he spoke, pleasantly high of pitch. "S-sorry I took so long."
"You fool, what did you do to yourself?" Her voice, raspy with lack of use, whispered back.
"I...had to..." He coughed, pink tongue flicked out to taste the cut at the edge of his swollen lips. He winced. Her pretty gray features grew dim. At least the throbbing wound, courtesy of a spear jab, had been reduced to a faintly pulsing burn.
"No, don't speak!" Frantic tears pricked the edge of her vision. His clover skin was sickly pale, a sure sign of terrible blood loss. Rae clung to her fear, using it to force the tears onward. She barely heard his half-mumbled words as she focused inwards.
"Had to... lure them away." He cracked a grin, despite the fresh blood that broke free from his lips, tracing a dark path along his jaw. It slipped along his neck to pool in the dip of his collarbone.
The first of her tears tracked down her face, hesitating in the elegant curve of her jaw. They clung to her skin stubbornly for several seconds, seemingly hung in suspended animation. Finally, gravity, her one-time enemy pulled them away as glittering diamonds in the light of the moon. They burst on his cheek, still moving as he continued to chatter mindlessly at her.
"Uh, p-poachers. They were comin,'" he swallowed thickly. "So I led 'em on a merry chase...cept..."
"Except you got caught." Raven murmured, brushing a few matted green strands from his brow. The wounds were closing. Tears of relief began to flow, further speeding his recovery. "Fool. I could have taken care of myself. I could have hidden."
A smile lit his features, revealing glittering fangs in the night. "Couldn't risk it. I couldn't let them near...my Lady."
She huffed and gave his head a little shake. "Your Lady?"
"Uh?" It was hard to keep his eyes open. Though his wounds were closed his exhaustion could not be healed. He forced his weighted lids open to gaze at her. "Of course. You're my Lady."
Rae looked down at him, bewildered. "You can't claim me. You don't even know me."
Beast gave a noncommittal hum. "I know enough. I know what it's like."
"What it's like…?" Her head cocked to the side, sending a fresh shower of droplets over his cheeks. He scowled as the shock pulled him back towards consciousness again.
His eyes slid open to reveal slitted green pools, drowning in the wide blackness of his pupils. "I know what it's like... to be hunted." His eyes shifted away from her face to fix on some place far from her quiet strip of beach.
Her stomach twisted sharply. Images flooded her mind of glittering scales strung together on gold chains, dangling from the necks of leering poachers as they hauled in their terrible nets. Searching, searching, always for the females and their legendary tears.
"I thought they only hunted us." The words, so blushingly naïve, had tumbled past her lips before she could take them back.
The green boy gave a short, derisive snort. "Hmph. Hardly."
She waited for more information but the elf would give no more. Instead, he turned his face towards her warmth, burying his nose in the crook where her arm lay tucked against her side. Surrounded by her enchanting scent, he once more allowed sleep to take hold.
Rae watched as his breathing grew deeper and more drawn out. His eyes fully closed as sleep pulled him under. He was soaking wet now from her hair and arms dampening his ripped clothes. She winced at the ugly bloodstains. These wouldn't do. The green boy's only response was a tiny kitten snore. The wind kicked up, tossing her hair and ruffling his wet and bloody rags. He shivered in her arms, his face instinctively seeking her warmth.
Heat pooled in her cheeks. He was so warm. She wondered if the odd, fluttery feeling in her belly might be the emotion happiness. Another shiver drew her gaze downwards. He would be too cold. What could she do? Were those cretins going to come back and finish the job? They needed to move.
Her eyes shifted to the sky. The moon was hidden by some trees, but instinctively she knew tonight was a full moon. A small smile formed. "How convenient."
With her face tilted towards the moon she closed her eyes. Winds whirled around her as she wiggled away from his grasp. Shimmery scales faded to grey. Her long tail split and shortened. What was once her tailfins became feet and toes, stretching and curling into the sand. When finally her legs had been fully realized, Rae pushed herself slowly to her feet.
Standing on wobbly legs, she took a few exploratory steps around the Beast's sleeping form. When she felt confident enough she moved back over to his side. Staggering back over to him, she blushed and looked for clothes to cover her lower half. She tore off pieces of his shirt and breeches that had been shredded in his fight and fashioned it into a very short skirt.
He whimpered as her warmth left him. Lifting his face with eyes still closed to follow her scent. She was close, and it soothed his soul despite the chill in the air. Empty arms folded across his chest as he curled inwards to preserve his fading heat.
Rae sighed. For some reason her heart was beating fast. Was that what a heartbeat felt like? Long had it been since she felt anything. After leaving her colony, she couldn't help but feel loneliness, even if she told herself, repeatedly, she didn't need anyone.
With great care, she pulled him up into a sitting position, throwing his bony arms over her shoulders. It took a bit of wiggling and wobbling but the mermaid somehow managed to drag his limp form up over her back. Her hands tucked securely under his thighs as she rose on shaky feet. They needed to hide somewhere, but close enough to the water so that the next morning she could return to swim. Looking to her left, down the shore, her sharp eyes spotted a cove. The wind was picking up, and he began to shiver. Perhaps there were some trees she could hide him under with her?
Finally, the wind and movement roused him. He groaned and shook his green head. Exhaustion fogged his mind. His eyes blinked open to discover a bird's eye view of a grey-skinned shoulder. Strong arms kept him secured to a warm back. It seemed like such a strain to think. His Lady's scent was near and her heartbeat so comfortingly close he forgot to care. Slowly his eyes slid back shut and he welcomed the warm darkness again.
She found a cove of low-hanging trees off the shore a ways, but not too far for her to hinder her return to the water. She wobbled with him in her arms. He would nuzzle the junction of her neck and shoulder every once in a while and make the faintest sighing noises. Each time he did so it sent her heart racing into overdrive. She took him under the canopy of trees, found a soft patch of white sand, and laid him down gently.
The wind was calmer here, but the mist in the air from the ocean might cause him to get sick. Rae settled in next to him, for once thankful for the physiology that kept her body a few degrees warmer than the average human.
Her perfect curves fit like a missing puzzle piece against him. Her scent was everywhere and he curled his arms around her to draw her closer to him. His nose nudged until he'd settled his face against her neck, lips pressed to her frantically beating pulse. For the first time in a long time, he felt that he might be home.
She blushed. Not even knowing his name, she wanted to whisper it. What was this feeling? Her knees were knocking and it wasn't from the lack of using them.
"Too close..." She murmured, her voice a hair too breathy to be considered harsh. "Mister…?"
"Beast" He whispered dreamily against her skin. His arms tightened about her slender waist. His kind craved touch, closeness, and he had been without for so long. It was heaven.
"Beast." She hummed, desperately trying to ignore the fire building under her skin where his lips met her neck. "I'm glad you could h-help me, and I'm glad I helped you. B-but, perhaps it is time I went home, now?"
She had never felt this way before. Stuttering? Was that her thing? Of course not! She was always collected and calm. Something made her words stumble. Something sweet and terribly distracting and—Oh my-His touch! His touch awakened deep things in her. She'd felt the stirrings before, faintly, with him. The one she refused to think about. But nothing close to what she now felt for a near total stranger. It sent a terrible thrill up her spine, forming a tight knot of fear and longing in her belly.
"Stay." He hummed against her ear, his pleasant voice tightening the knot ever further. "Just a little longer." He was almost warm. Almost home. She couldn't leave yet. His arms tightened, squeezing, but not to the point of pain. His ebony-capped fingertips brushed faintly against her belly, raising gooseflesh in their wake.
She lifted her head and fought to suppress the tiny moan threatening release. Someone wanted her to stay. Someone didn't want her to leave. Didn't force her away. He held her close. So close that she could feel the steady beat of his heart through her back. She had never felt such closeness, such warmth. The aura he had was so bright she could feel it piercing the darkest reaches of her heart. Her cold hands slipped over his bony fingers, weaving together in a curious juxtaposition of green and grey. Although he was shorter than her, she felt like she was fully enveloped in him. She pulled him in closer and closer. Rae didn't know how to love but she wondered if the burning, coiling thing in her chest might be what she felt.
A rumbling purr started low in his chest. Nuzzling her neck, surrounded in her warmth, the last vestiges of his consciousness faded away. He was safe. He was warm. He was home.
