wouldn't know a good thing if it came up and slit your throat

Ain't it the life of you, you're lighting up the place?

Longnight was dreary. Business usually dried up to almost being dead as the ships were too chickenshit to leave port in the dark, all the surface dwellers spent their time getting pissed at the bar or rolling around in the sand with each other (newsflash humans, there was still an audience even if you were behind a rock): all that there was to do was clean, prepare everything for the new year, and wait.

The problem was that Olavi had never been very good at waiting. He lived his life waiting for the next blow up, situation, fight; whatever life guarding Nerissa would bring to him. Unfortunately, Nerissa was mostly sorting out their various ill-gotten gains and swimming about the city at the moment and did not need protecting. Bored, Olavi had gone off for a swim.

When he finally came up to the shore, Haulani a distant cloud of light and sound (seemed like some kind of party, surprise surprise), Olavi sighed and rolled onto the beach, his tail still in the water, and put his hands behind his head. There was something captivating about the absolute inky nothingness of the Longnight sky, at least. If he were a poetic man he'd have something proper to say about it, but all he thought was: Like a fuckin' void.

Of course, a 6 foot shark-tailed merman laying on the coast was not particularly sneaky and he knew there was a chance of a human noticing him there; he supposed it would at least break the boredom, and he always liked to intimidate one of the silly little fuckers. Flash of the teeth, whip of the tail..almost hoping one would could by now, he laced his fingers over his stomach and continued to stare up into the sky.

OLAVI

Base Code by Sky!

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Noticed Olavi was. Intimidated Remi was not.

"Not much to look at." Remi commented dryly. His voice was free of humour and while it did border on something like a conversational tone, he'd be more than happy to continue strolling along the beach if the half-shark indicated he'd rather be alone. Though the Alchemist's eyes did travel down the bodyguard's torso, it was without much interest. Remi's thoughts heavily revolved around Ronin; not even a naked half-fish could untether his mind.

Despite his comment, Remi too glanced up to the impossibly empty sky above, giving it a silent half-snarl. Having never had to endure a LongNight without Ronin, Remi felt the relative peace and safety of Torchline like a low-frequency hum in the back of his mind. It was always there, annoyingly present, serving as a constant reminder.

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ain't it the life of you, you're lighting up the place?

At the sound of a voice, Olavi's eyes idly moved to look over Remi. If Nerissa were there he would immediately move to protect her in case the man had bad intentions, but on his own he had little to worry about. Shrugging, he didn't seem to particularly resent Remi's presence, though he wasn't thrilled either. Talking to humans usually ended in one of two ways: frustration or boredom.

"It's better below, but even then - this time of year can suck my cocks." He snorted out a quick laugh, seemingly finding this funny. Turning so he was resting on his elbow, he looked up at Remi and then back to the noise in Haulani. "You're not going to the party up there? Sounds like a riot. Man wandering by himself on the beach while everyone celebrates looks weird."

OLAVI

Base Code by Sky!

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

If Remi was at all intrigued by the notion of multiple cocks, he didn't show it. Just now, with Ronin so very far away and dark thoughts ever infringing his mind, not much drew his attention. Not even multiple penises on one man.

"Oh, you're an expert on what looks weird for us air-breathers, are you?" The Alchemist asked, brow raised and expression softly skeptical. "Much as I appreciate the concern, you'll forgive me for not worrying too much about what a man who can't leave the water considers weird for us up here." He added, accented voice sarcastic but still musical.

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ain't it the life of you, you're lighting up the place?

Olavi raised an eyebrow, quite tempted to tell Remi that he was at least an expert of what looked weird on this beach, having looked over it for targets for years now, but he wasn't that invested in arguing with him; resting his arms behind his head, he shrugged, purposefully not rising to the comments (which could very easily have angered him a few years earlier, but Olavi had been practising self-restraint).

"Alright, then lemme ask: Why aren't you at the party? You totally normal and really fucking mundane man, what're you doing down here?" He'd never admit it, but Olavi had often wondered what it'd be like to attend a human party, just for a little while: those kinds of whims were for singing princesses though, not mid-30s bodyguard sharks. "You from around here? You don't sound like the others that come by."

OLAVI

Base Code by Sky!

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

"Lack of starlight is...not something I feel like celebrating." Remi murmured. That he'd seem like a poor-sport about LongNight was a label he was fine with carrying, especially given how little he cared about perceptions of him these days. The real reason was much deeper of course, the starlight he was worried about being Ronin's rather than Safrin's.

"Heard that did you?" The Alchemist asked, his accent sounding all the thicker as he grinned darkly. "I'm one of those damned Outlanders. I come from a world away from here."  Then, realizing he had absolutely no idea the answer to the question he was about to pose, tilted his head to the side. "I don't suppose there are any Outlander mermaids are there?"

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ain't it the life of you, you're lighting up the place?

Olavi snorted, finding himself surprising agreeing with this human on something. Longnight was a fucking miserable time of year and he felt more people should acknowledge that, rather than kid themselves by throwing their little parties. "Yeah, it sucks. Stops everything dead for a week: wish something more exciting happened during." (Little did Olavi know, the kind of 'excitement' that some got during Longnight was nothing he'd want).

"Outlanders." He repeated, not knowing the term, though Remi filled it in for him shortly afterwards. Olavi remembered hearing something about new people coming in from other 'worlds', whatever that was meant to mean, but didn't usually pay that much attention to human issues unless they affected business. "Uh, no. So how'd you get here from your fancy other world then and what was so shit about it that you thought it'd be better here?"

OLAVI

Base Code by Sky!

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

"Next year how about we toss you into a bathtub and I can take you to where the excitement really is." Remi said darkling, the words almost a threat, but only almost. The Alchemist would never force that sort of hell onto anyone; not an enemy, not a stranger met on the beach.

"You say that like it was my choice." The Alchemist shrugged, wrapping one arm around the other. "It was the Voice who did all of that. Brought us here, changed us into attuned and abandoned or ascended..." He shrugged again. "It's better and worse in different ways than back home. But I suppose you could say the same about anywhere."

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ain't it the life of you, you're lighting up the place?

"And where's that, then?" Olavi asked, raising an eyebrow as he laughed, unsure if this weird human was trying to hit on him (and as flattered as he'd be if that were the case, it would obviously be a hard no, for a few reasons). For now, he left the comment about being in a bathtub alone, not sure if he was offended by it or not, also not entirely sure what a bathtub was.

It was frankly news to Olavi that the Outlanders hadn't chosen to come: if it had been explained in his near vicinity, he certainly had not paid attention. "I never paid much attention to all the different kindsa humans there are. I've heard about that Voice thing, though...you ever seen it?" He asked, vaguely curious to know what a weird self-made God-beast looked like.

OLAVI

Base Code by Sky!

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

'Uhh, like a...big bowl you sit in, with water. You know, so you wouldn't drown up here. Or.." Pausing, Remi's brows furrow. "Suffocate, I suppose?"

Tugging in a breath, the Alchemist nods. "Yeah a few times. She's sort of like a—" On the beach, the bonfire roars to even greater heights than before. Someone has obviously poured some sort of fuel onto it and is now reaping the consequences of that decision. Grinding his teeth together, Remi swipes a hand through his curls and gives the mermaid a darkly apologetic look as a howl of pain rises up from the beach.

"I should..probably check that out." He says with a sigh. All he'd wanted was a bit of peace and quiet.


~FIN

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!