[SE] Consider the coconut

Finding a stand of coconut palms near the water was a simple enough task, but finding one that fit the requirement he had been given - small enough to fit in the palm of his hand - was a little more challenging.

Luckily the mermanta had large hands - and his Water Manipulation could reach where his flukes could not. He swam along a section of beach that had been washed away in a sharp dropoff, the water lapping up against the bank that still held its ground a few inches above high tide, though the sandy floor beneath was several feet deep. He craned his head up into the tree, squinting against the flashes of bright Longheat sun that peeked through the gently-waving fronds to try and see which of the fruits overhead was ripe and ready to drop - and if they were close to the right size.

He thought he saw one that looked likely and a serpent of water rose from the sea beside him to strike upwards, growing flat and sharp and hard as the tip turned into an icicle blade that neatly sliced one of the hard-shelled fruits free and dropped it into Hadama's waiting hand.

Koa

Koa

"Neat trick!"

Here's a fun fact about Koa: he could probably count on one hand the number of times he's seen magic done. No, really - growing up in Stormbreak doesn't exactly surround one in magic, and Koa has taken very few excursions from his home. Sure, he's encountered demigods and his mom had an enchanted sword and he's bonded to a dragon, but magic? Real magic?

He's like a kid in a candy shop.

He's technically here on assignment, but c'mon. There's way too much cool stuff to see in Torchline, and the poor kid can hardly be expected not to enjoy his time off. Barefoot and shirtless, Koa looks nearly like a local with his mirrored sunglasses and low-slung, shark-adorned swim shorts. He's leaning around the tree from which Hadama just extracted a coconut, his mouth upturned in an easy grin as he peers at the man below. "How'd you do that? Was it-- woah!"

The boy steps forward; the sunglasses are pushed up. He stares in open wonder and awe at the man before him, utterly unaware of how rude he must seem, but Rae's tit's, dude---

"--Are you a mer?"

i can't decide if it's a choice, getting swept away

Hadama was a hard man to offend, and he'd met his share of first-time visitors to Torchline who had never seen a Mer before. The coconut fell into his hand and he flexed his fingers around it, measuring the diameter before turning his attention fully to the human who stepped out from the trees.

If there was any doubt about him being a visitor it was put to rest by his next question and Hadama looked the lithe young man over with stoic serenity that nonetheless held a glimmer of good amusement within emerald eyes.

"Indeed," he rumbled solemnly in a voice like distant summer thunder. "Would you like one?" With a tilt of his head he indicated the coconuts above them, considering that it was, perhaps, time for a break and a snack anyways.

Koa

The man - the merman - seems to take Koa's awe in stride, which is good, because the boy is not done gawking. He's just so damn shiny, it's maybe the coolest thing Koa's ever seen, and also is he a fish with wings? The young man isn't sure, and doesn't really know how to ask.

Luckily the merman takes the lead, because the Dragoon is speechless. He blinks at the offer would you like one, momentarily confused. Would he like... a mer? A tail? Could this guy do that? Would his legs ever grow back if he---

---Oh, no, Koa, you dumbass, he's offering you a coconut.

"Uhhh, sure?" the boy stammers, trying to regain his composure as his brain catches up with reality. He looks up at the tree above him, laden with round fruit. "What, uh, what do you do with them?" Because Koa's knowledge of coconuts mostly extends to consuming them as part of fruity drinks.

i can't decide if it's a choice, getting swept away

If he hadn't wanted people to look at him, he wouldn't have had his scars tattooed over in shining gold, after all, and though he kept a serenely stoic expression Hadama would have been lying to say he wasn't pleased at the newcomer's appreciative awe.

Perhaps it was just as well that he couldn't read minds, for his good opinion of the stranger remained intact at the innocent question - perfectly understandable from someone who hailed from distant, colder regions - and he accepted it gravely. "Many things. From the seeds, food and drink. The fibers of the husk are used to make nets below and above the water. The trunks for furniture. Humans use the husks and leaves for making fire. The trunks for building boats and houses. The fronds for roofs." As he spoke he looked up thoughtfully and sent several pillars of water up to splash against the large nuts gathered in the trees above them. Some stayed firmly attached, but others came loose with only a light prodding and fell down to plop to the ground and in the water nearby - not too close to them, thanks to the mermanta's aim.

"I am Hadama. Can you make a fire?" The question came as he gathered the ones in the water and returned them to the shore, beginning to shake them to determine their various stages of ripeness.

Koa

"So you can use the fruit and the leaves?" Koa gazes up in wonder - and some disbelief - at the evidently magical fruit. "Seems like these islands really give you all you need."

(I'll stop.)

Ah, but what a lucky day: the boy is about to acquire his own coconut. The pillar of water startles him; he shies away, tense and alarmed, before realizing what must be happening. Fear turns to amusement and wonder at the display of magic, Koa laughing brightly as he surges forward to catch a falling nut, careful not to let the others land on his head.

The thing he holds does not much resemble those he's seen in the market, full of umbrellas and fruity drinks. Koa eyes it speculatively, considering the coconut indeed. (That's right, I lied.) "Is the water sweet inside? How do you make nets from fiber? Is there any meat inside?"

(Ok, I'm done for real this time.)

The dragoon tears his eyes away from the coconut and back to the merman. "Koa," he gives his name with a grin, raising the fruit in some facsimile of a wave. "And fire - yeah. Just a sec. Should be around here somewhere..." He lets out a shrill whistle, then turns back to Hadama. "Where should we make it? Can you, uh... can you come up to the shore to use the fire? Sorry, I've never met a mer before." He finishes this off with a self-deprecating laugh, his boyish grin crooked as he tries to regain his conversational bearings.

i can't decide if it's a choice, getting swept away

The visitor's wondering question was met with a grave nod of confirmation, but amusement gleamed brightly in silent eyes. It was refreshing to see such fascination and awe again, reminding him of his own early days at the surface and learning about where some of the Merfolk's own supplies came from.

Hadama was too focused on the coconuts and their retrieval to see the human's tension, but he heard the laughter clearly and he watched the young man catch a falling nut. The Tidebreaker tilted his head in congratulations and respect of the feat. "It is sweet," he acknowledged of the water. "And the meat is white. Not strongly flavored, but good to eat." So many questions, and he paused to consider the second one a moment while Koa gave his name.

"It is nice to meet you, Koa," he said gravely, but there was a slight crinkling at the corners of his eyes hinting at a smile. "Make it near the tideline, please. I cannot leave the water completely." But he could heave himself out of the water and up onto the ledge of shore, leaving his flukes to be bathed in the tide as he considered the collected coconuts and then chose one. He shook it, hearing it slosh, and nodded in satisfaction. Taking the knife from his belt he scored the husk and began to strip it away from the seed within. "I will show you how to make rope for nets while these cook," he offered.

(Never stop, Shark.)

Koa

Koa soaks this all in like a sponge, fascinated and bemused by the many possibilities contained within one simple fruit. "Huh," he says expressively, peering at the large green oblong with a renewed sense of respect. Will he ever be half as useful as a simple coconut? Be able to provide for himself and his family? When he looks to the future, where is he?

Ok. Nope. Not going to have an existential crisis over a coconut.

Koa picks his way toward the shoreline, gathering dried leaves and driftwood as he goes. By the time he's at the edge of the water he's got a decent assortment, though doubtless some is too wet or to green to service well as kindling. Being unfamiliar with the flora of Torchline he can be forgiven some mistakes. He sets it down a foot from where the tideline appears to be, and it is around this time that Pip appears, scurrying up from who-knows-where, her claws and fur coated with sand, a crab carcass in her mouth.

"Pipsqueak, this is Hadama," Koa introduces, grimacing as he picks a strand of seaweed off her coat. "Hadama, Pipsqueak. Firestarter extraordinaire." He eyes the spot he's chosen for the fire, wondering if the water will be mischievous and come too close. Hopefully the mer's control of it will keep it from misbehaving. "Pip, we need a firepit. Wanna do th-- and there she goes."

Indeed, it takes very little prompting for Pipsqueak to start digging a hole, her long claws ideal tools to gouge into the sand.

i can't decide if it's a choice, getting swept away

It was a humble fruit, but one that hid a myriad of potential within its fibrous husk. Hadama was content with Koa's newfound respect for the backbone of island life, and he proceeded to use his strong hands to strip the fruit, tearing the outer covering away to reveal the hard, roundish seed within while the human searched for kindling.

He wasn't entirely certain that the furry creature that came scampering from the underbrush was a dragon at first, but when she was introduced as a firestarter Hadama inclined his head to her in solemn respect. "A pleasure to meet you, Pipsqueak." She was quite a bit different from Melita's shy little lady, but he watched in bemused pleasure as the companion got to work on the pit. And indeed, the waters of the tide seemed to give that particular stretch of side a wider berth than elsewhere along the shore, leaving several feet of damp sand drying between the expanding hearth and the nearest wavelet.

As he began stripping fibers from the discarded husk segments into a matted clump in his hand, he looked back to Koa curiously. "Where are you from?" Given the man's unfamiliarity with coconuts it seemed unlikely that he was from Torchline.

Koa

Yeah, well, what can I say except that Pip is an odd catsnake who probably shouldn't really exist, and yet here we are. She picks her head up from the sand long enough to trill a response to Hadama's greeting, but there's very little, it seems, that can keep her from the task at hand.

As the pit grows to adequate size ("Pip, maybe go dig us up some crabs to cook, huh?") Koa, too, kneels by it, his expression intense as he starts the process of building a base for his fire. "We're from Stormbreak," he answers Hadama, with a firmness to his voice that certainly wasn't there before, his (bent) back (somehow?) straightening just a little bit. "We're Dragoons." As always, he can't help the pride that slips into his tone.

A passable teepee of sticks constructed, Koa rocks back on his heels to see what Hadama is doing with the husk. "So how do you get coconuts down, uh, underwater? I never thought about what Mers eat. Do you have to come to the surface every time you eat something, so you don't just swallow water?" His brows are furrowed, uncharacteristic befuddlement written clearly on his face. The young man isn't usually one for peppering strangers with questions, but he's also a very sheltered child let loose in a strange land.

i can't decide if it's a choice, getting swept away

Hadama could appreciate such single-minded devotion to a task. Just as tradition was his mission it seemed that digging holes was Pip's calling in life. The King nodded his gratitude to the furry little dragon before turning his attention back to Koa and the revelations the young man shared.

"Mmn. I visited there, once. A beautiful city at night." Emerald eyes twinkled with hidden mischief as he failed to explain just how he had visited, but his expression remained serenely stoic, revealing only that he would be a formidable poker player if he should ever try his hand at it.

As Koa returned from his fire-building endeavor, Hadama opened his hand to reveal the palmful of husk fibers he had stripped so far. Taking a pinch of some of the fibers from the center of the loose ball he began to twirl them between thumb and forefinger, lightly pulling so that a slender cord began to slowly take shape as he spoke. "We gather them from the surface," he answered first, a little bemused perhaps by the strange assumptions landwalkers made but inured to them by now. He spoke with an easy patience as he worked to extend the length of cord another couple of inches. "And bring them down to our City. If we want to drink their milk we must do so in air. But we eat underwater, as fish and dolphins do."

He looked up from his demonstration, tilting his head curiously at the young Breaker. "What do Dragoons do, now that the War is ended?"

Koa

Somehow, the idea of Hadama visiting Stormbreak doesn't phase Koa at all. The city used to press against the sea after all, and who knows, maybe mers have special water boats. He doesn't think about it too hard. He's still caught up on coconuts, the magical, mythical fruit.

He's a simple lad, this one.

"A whole city. Must be neat." Koa's copper gaze drifts wistfully towards the water, as though he might catch some glimpse of the fabled spires below the waves. "Wish I could see it sometime." His fire built, Koa's settled his ponderous bulk into the sand, tossing the captured coconut idly between his hands as he watches Hadama work. He still isn't entirely sure how to open the damn thing, less so what it has to do with fire, but the soldier can be patient.

"Well, peacekeeping, mostly." Koa shrugs, tossing the coconut up into the air. "I'd like, though, to take it outside'a Stormbreak. Make it a whole Caido-wide organization, so that if another war comes people are better prepared." It's his first time saying this out loud, and Koa's face is flushed with purpose, his voice firm and bright. Then the reverie breaks and he shakes his head, chuckling down at the coconut. "But that's just a pipe dream. Right now I'm happy to be able to keep people safe."

i can't decide if it's a choice, getting swept away

Alas, his mischief fell flat, but Hadama took it as he did most things: with phlegmatic acceptance. Stormbreak had many marvels of its own, and he had no idea what else Koa had seen in his travels.

And there was nothing wrong with simply accepting someone at face value, though in Kaiholo Port it would get the poor lad fleeced right down to his swim trunks by the end of the day.

"It could be arranged," Hadama agreed easily to the dragoon's wish to see the home of the Mer. "We have begun to accept human visitors, since the War." Though if Pip was any indication Koa would need a helping fin to breathe the Arclight's crystal waters.

Once Pip had lit the fire and it was burning well, Hadama scooped up one of the still-husked coconuts and pushed it into the base of the fire to cook while they talked. He picked up the one he had husked for fiber and tapped out one of its 'eyes' with his knife, then took a drink of the water within before handing it to Koa to try.

"Mmn. The intention is noble," the Tidebreaker agreed slowly, turning the idea over with slow deliberation and finding it sound. Even without wars there were monsters and dangerous animals aplenty, and no few bandits. "I would support such a group. And a branch of it here in Torchline."

Time passed in a woobly montage of curious questions and conversation until the coconut was thoroughly blackened. Hadama used a stick to fish it out of the fire (the surf never coming close enough to endanger the blaze) and sprinkled water over it to cool it before he stripped the burned husk away to reveal the hard pod within. A stout knock with the pommel of his knife between the coconut's 'eyes' cracked it neatly in half to reveal the lightly toasted meat within, and he offered Koa half of the fruit while showing him how to cut slices to nibble. A few more coconuts were placed in the fire to cook while they ate, ensuring there would be plenty of leftovers afterwards.

Koa

Time does indeed do some wibbly wobbly shit, and before Koa knows it the day is fading and the coconuts are cooked. And though he's skeptical at first, by Frey's tits, the lightly toasted meat inside is shockingly delicious. Koa's eyes grow wide at the first bite, boyish delight making his face flush in the setting sun. "Woah," he says, expressively, around a mouthful of sweet, smooth meat. "Woah, that's good."

In a nest of massacred shells and half-singed fibers, Pipsqueak expresses her agreement with a loud, smoky burp.

Though his stomach may be contented, Koa's curiosity is not. "What's that one for?" He gestures with his knife to the untouched coconut Hadama first claimed, smaller than some of the ones they feasted on tonight. "Dessert?"

i can't decide if it's a choice, getting swept away