Gladiolus Amicitia (
iwillshieldhim) wrote2017-10-24 08:38 am
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Meeting of Worlds [for pains]
It wasn't supposed to happen this way.
He had been out hunting, moving silently along the kelp bed, stalking a small school of large fish, when he had become the hunted. If he hadn't been so focused on the faint movements of his tail, giving him just enough momentum forward to keep up with the school. If he hadn't trusted that his size kept most predators away to begin with, maybe the faint feeling of being watched would have triggered a reaction sooner.
It would have been his life if he hadn't twisted out of the way at the last second as the shadow descended on him, but instead, it was his shoulder. He snarled as pain, and blood, bloomed bright, and immediately the shark started to go mad as the blood hit it. Gladio felt a crunch, certain of broken bone, but all he could do was react. The blade in his other hand came up and he stabbed, hard. Again and again, knowing the shark would feel nothing at all but all he could do was kill it.
How many stabs it took, he would never know, but by the time the beast finally released his shoulder, he couldn't keep a grip on his weapon any longer as dizziness over took him from blood loss. The shark began to float up, away, leaving a trail of blood behind it. I have to get away...
He weakly grabbed a large piece of kelp and started to wind it around the mess of his shoulder, giving as hard a thrust with his tail as he could. It was already a fairly shallow area to begin with, maybe he would be safe if he hit the shallows--
It was the last thought he had, darkness over taking him.
He had been out hunting, moving silently along the kelp bed, stalking a small school of large fish, when he had become the hunted. If he hadn't been so focused on the faint movements of his tail, giving him just enough momentum forward to keep up with the school. If he hadn't trusted that his size kept most predators away to begin with, maybe the faint feeling of being watched would have triggered a reaction sooner.
It would have been his life if he hadn't twisted out of the way at the last second as the shadow descended on him, but instead, it was his shoulder. He snarled as pain, and blood, bloomed bright, and immediately the shark started to go mad as the blood hit it. Gladio felt a crunch, certain of broken bone, but all he could do was react. The blade in his other hand came up and he stabbed, hard. Again and again, knowing the shark would feel nothing at all but all he could do was kill it.
How many stabs it took, he would never know, but by the time the beast finally released his shoulder, he couldn't keep a grip on his weapon any longer as dizziness over took him from blood loss. The shark began to float up, away, leaving a trail of blood behind it. I have to get away...
He weakly grabbed a large piece of kelp and started to wind it around the mess of his shoulder, giving as hard a thrust with his tail as he could. It was already a fairly shallow area to begin with, maybe he would be safe if he hit the shallows--
It was the last thought he had, darkness over taking him.
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Stiff from an afternoon spent warming the end of the dock, Noctis rises to wring the kinks from his shoulders and reel his line back in. Typically, if anything's snagged the hook on the way back in, all that's waiting on the end of the line is a strand of kelp or a piece of driftwood. Whatever's caught hold of his line this time is something much heftier.
"...What the hell?"
Whatever's caught on the hook is too big for Noctis to drag onto the dock. Hopping into the shallows, Noctis tugs the hefty object towards the shore instead, and as the murky water dissipates, he narrows his eyes to get a better view. It's that long and scaly tail that catches Noctis' eye first before he's thrown off by what very much appears to be a human body on the other end. Breath frozen in his lungs, Noctis hauls the creature up onto the sand until there's no denying that what he's seeing is the type of being only described in fairy tales– a long fish-like tail and the torso of a man.
What the hell indeed. Dropping to his knees, Noctis looks the unconscious creature over. Unconscious seems rather optimistic with the pallid sheen of his skin and the ugly proof of a wound beneath the blade of kelp wrapped around the creature's shoulder. Tugging it off reveals the extent of the wound, and cursing beneath his breath, Noctis strips off the hem of his shirt and winds it around the creature's injured shoulder. Healing his wound through magic would take the kind of focus Noctis simply doesn't have right now– if magic would even work on a creature like this.
Decided he needed a sea themed tattoo to match so Leviathan it is!
But the creature looks like it very well might be dying. Not completely yet, though, for a weak sound leaves him as Noctis binds up his shoulder. Gills flare and close on his neck.
oooh i like it
The tear from his hook's something Noctis will have to deal with after he treats the bigger wound on the creature's shoulder. Taking his chances with the potion in his pocket, Noctis takes what feels like an agonizingly long moment to concentrate on the vial, infusing it with magic before breaking it over the creature's wound. There's no helping the amount of blood the creature's lost, but the potion should at least staunch the flow of blood and mend the wound. As gently as he can, Noctis digs his hook from the creature's tail.
^^
For Gladio, there's a strange sound, like crystal shattering, that drags him back from the darkest depths that no merman would willingly travel.
His eyes slowly start to open and he takes a breath in - which he immediately realizes is through his lungs, not his gills - and that tells him he's above water. The brightness of the sun makes him close his eyes again as warmth spreads over his body that has nothing to do with the sun but instead something that begins at his shoulder and fans outwards.
Then, after that, comes the realization that something has his tail. So Noctis gets to find out two things - that the merman, to some degree, is conscious, and that a merman's tail is very, very strong because it will rip right out of his hands when it suddenly flips up and flops back down.
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While it's a relief knowing the creature's at least somewhat conscious, this discovery only precedes Noct getting a face full of tail when it lurches right out of his hands and gives his cheek a good smack. Dumbfounded, Noct stares at the creature beside him for a good long moment before picking a scale off his cheek and addressing it, conscious or not.
"I take it you're feeling better."
Never mind whether or not this creature can speak or not. Wouldn't be the first time Noct's spoken to sea life.
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He stopped, though, when the human had done nothing towards him. The fact he could put weight on his injured shoulder dared him to look away to see the strange material wrapped around it. Had the human done this? Uncertain, distrusting eyes turned back to Noctis.
"...you helped me?" There was a certain tone to that voice, something musical and not of the land above, but it also held a growl. More so, there was an implied threat in the way he showed his teeth which proved to be more like an animal than a man's.
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Keeping himself still, almost rigidly so, Noctis holds an arm beneath the creature's back to offer him whatever support he can. It's not as if he knows the first thing about how he ought to be handling him, but the creature doesn't seem eager to snap into him. Those fangs, however, are all the warning Noct needs to keep his movements to a minimum.
"...Yeah. Didn't plan on it, but," Clarification's pretty important here. Noct clears his throat, scanning the horizon before returning his eyes to the creature. "I didn't plan on hurting you either. Found you by the shore and caught you by chance. I thought you were a goner up until a couple minutes ago."
After all, he'd looked pretty damn dead not that long ago.
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His tail flexes again, his shoulder matches, seeing how it feels. "Shark and I had a little disagreement about who was the next meal." Yet this human isn't trying to hurt him and in fact somehow helped him, though he isn't sure how a human could have helped this much because he can remember how destroyed his shoulder had been.
It's nearly as curious that the human speaks his language, even if it has a strange tone to his ears that isn't familiar. It's the first time he's seen a human up close and if it isn't going to hurt him, he's going to take a look. The strange ear fins that are too small or the appendages where a tail should be all get a dubious look, but then again this is a creature that can stay out on land for impossible amounts of time.
"...so what now?" he asks somewhat dubiously. He's been dragged up onto land, not impossible for him to get back into the water, he can see his tail's torn but he can live with that, too, and his shoulder still needs time. It's stiff, it's sore, he has no idea how bad it is under there, but his arm isn't practically falling off so he'll take it.
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The dubious look on the creature's face when its eyes pass over his ears and legs pulls a laugh out of Noctis. He must look pretty damn weird to a creature with fins and gills, but on the contrary, Noct's not looking at the merman like he's anything unusual. The tail's pretty cool, frankly.
"...You hungry?" It can't hurt to ask, given that the creature had said before. Noct can't promise he has any sharks circling the bottom of his bucket. "Can't stop you if you want to leave, but you should probably hang out here for a while. I promise I won't hurt you."
His word probably doesn't mean much to the creature, but it doesn't hurt to let his intentions be known. Noctis doesn't plan on hurting him. While the potion was a good start, the merman's going to need some time to heal and Noct's going to need time to think about where a creature of his size can safely recover.
Home safe from the con!! Sorry about the slowness!
There's a tense moment as Gladio waits to see what the human does, but instead, it only keeps talking to him. It's nothing like he imagined humans would react to him, given all the stories and legends about them.
...well. ...Yes, he is. Humans consume anything living, as far as he knows, other than each other. They eat merfolk. However, he's kind of curious, too. This one hasn't hurt him, is trying to help him, isn't even trying to keep him on the beach.
"Yeah." The decision comes to try and see what'll come of this. "I can stay for a while." And try to figure you out at the same time, he thinks to himself. Really, he knows he's in very real danger back in the water. He's only got the use of one arm proper and the ocean, while it doesn't have a great deal of things that will go after something as large as him, isn't an easy place to exist when injured. ...Stay here isn't exactly safe, either. Humans are anything but safe, but this one is puny and seems friendly.
welcome back! sorry for the slowness myself, just transitioned between jobs!
With the creature agreeing to stay put long enough to enjoy a meal, Noctis fumbles with carefully lying Gladio down on the sand before rising up onto his feet. Well, staying for a spell is one thing, but he'll have to see if Gladio's inclined to give his offering of fish more than a glance over.
"Give me a sec. I'm gonna guess you're alright with fish for dinner."
Whatever Noct has in his bucket is what he'll offer up to Gladio, a meager helping of what little fish he managed to snag over the long afternoon. A pretty pathetic haul, but what might last Noctis a week might be good enough for one meal to this creature.
"...You got a name?"
No need to be sorry! Congrats on the new job!
He almost didn't quite know what to do with this. On one hand, yes, he was very hungry at this point, specially given that he had been hungry when he'd been attacked. Not giving Noctis another chance to take back his offer, a clawed hand dropped into the bucket and snagged a fish very easily, claws piercing into the fish and gripping tightly as the fish bled onto the sand. Within seconds, it stopped moving.
"Gladiolus. ...You?" And then he took a bite out of the fish, scales and bones and all. Crunch.
Thank you! C:
Nodding, Noctis watches the frenzied fish circle the bottom of the bucket. "Yeah– it's no big deal. I've got other things to eat back home," hesitating only long enough to take in the sight of Gladiolus' powerful claws sinking into the fish, Noctis' eyes drop to the spill of blood on the sand. "...Noctis."
It's best he leave the introductions at first names. While Gladio eats, Noctis contemplates his injuries and considers whether or not a potion would do much to ward off what'll certainly turn out to be a nasty scar on the creature's shoulder. That wound on his tail from his hook may need some tending to as well.
"...Your wounds don't hurt still, do they?"
^_^
"Nothing I can't live with." Not about to admit any sort of weakness, but given that the other did help him, he gruffly adds, "not comfortable, but livable."
His fingers flick over the bucket. "Were you out here fishing? Not a lot of fish around here because of you guys." He takes another bite of the fish, matched with the crunch of bones. "There's plenty of better spots out there."
alright, settled in at work and i should be good to tag regularly again!
"Wish I could do you better, but at least the wound's closed up," Noct mutters, eyes shifting to look out over the ocean. "Trying to fish, but like you said, it's pretty barren here. Got any suggestions?"
Noct would be surprised if his scaly new friend gave away the best angling spots to a human who he might suspect would fish the place dry, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
Glad to hear it!!!
But he's willing to show him somewhere decent, away from the places he can see in the distance. Being this close to a human dwelling makes him nervous, knowing what kind of killers they are. ...Most of them. This one seems okay, so far. Besides, he shared the fish he had already caught so he at least owes some in return.
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"I've got a row boat. It'll still take me way longer to get there, but it's better than nothing."
And better than ending up as a shark's meal, for that matter. Noctis nods towards the docks, his beaten up and well worn row boat tied to the end of it with some rope.
"Think you're good to swim with that messed up shoulder? Don't push it. I'm not gonna starve without a fish dinner tonight."
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He comes up and moves over towards the boat, looking over the docks and making sure he doesn't see any one else. Noct seems okay but any other and he would have vanished. The human could have easily killed him or worse and he hadn't, so there had to be some level of trust given in return. Fair's fair. He got healed, bandaged up, ate, so he could show Noct where fish could be found if he's any kind of good human fisher.
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Righting himself, Noct walks to the end of the dock and unwinds the knots in the length of rope keeping his dingy little boat secured to the mildewing wood. After he's loaded up his gear, Noct takes the ore and paddles out beside Gladio.
"If it's any consolation, we'll probably be about even."
Nah, not even. Banged up shoulder and all, Gladio could likely outpace him still if he chose to, but assuming the merman plans to stick close by, the gradual pace of their journey might do them both some good.
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He turns over in the water, watching how the human moves across the water in his boat, then twists back. It pulls a little at his shoulder and an ache throbs through, but it's ignored in favor of moving along the shore line, knowing the human will need to trace it to know where to go unless they have one of their little magical devices that show the way.
"Why are you out here, anyway?" he asks, moving along on his back so he can talk to the human. "Late and lonely for a man."
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Gladio's pace is easy to keep up with in the boat, but Noct's mindful not to move to quickly either. Easy does it. Healed or not, that wound must still be bothering the merman.
"Late and lonely just suits me, I guess," Noct says with a languid shrug. "Fishing's better on your own anyway."
That's how he's choosing to explain away his lack of friends, take it or leave it. Noct has other reasons for secluding himself, but those reasons are nothing that should concern Gladio. Man isn't lonely by nature, so Noct's asocial habits might be tough to explain.
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Gladio leads him out and suddenly, hidden further out, it turns out there is a sandbar. He pulls himself up onto it and proves Noct would be about ankle-deep on the bar. His tail flips over, and he settles himself, waiting for Noctis to nudge his boat up onto the bar. "Here." He gestures to the ocean out around him. "Out that way." It should have some lazy fish out there, and better yet, no chance another of his people would be here. It's too shallow for most merfolk to even bother.
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"Thanks," Noct sets up his rod and casts out into a pool of particularly indolent fish hanging out in the warm waters. There's a smile on his face he hasn't been able to wear for a long while now. "Pretty big ones out here. One of these guys could feed me for a week."
Not hard to do when Noct's diet primarily consists of absolute garbage, but that's nothing Gladio needs to know. Ignis judges him for his poor dietary choices enough as it is.
"But it's more about the fun of it for me. You uh, ever fish for sport?"
Silly question, probably. Noct hasn't the first clue what merfolk do for fun.
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There is a drastic change in the human's face when he smiles. He suddenly looks... younger, less defensive. An expression that Gladio finds himself in approval of. He watches with curiosity as Noctis actually begins fishing because it is an act he's never been able to sit and watch, certainly not this and certainly not without anger or fear. "...You're small. Two weeks."
Is that a joke? It is, given the smirk that touches Gladio's lips. His tail is long and pure muscle, but even their torsos tells him this human is a tiny one. He's eaten bigger.
He raises a brow at 'fish for sport' before thinking on it. What does that mean, exactly? After a moment or two of hesitation, he replies with what he thinks it does. "I hunt for food. ...Are you saying humans fish for something other than to eat?" That settles very poorly in his stomach. Humans are disturbing creatures.