intersea.

You're used to it by now- looking like this, not peoples' comments. You fit in in the Cirus, but now everyone else looks normal and you're still weird. Thankfully, the attention makes you more annoyed than truly bothered, and it's only because you never thought you'd need to explain your backstory a dozen times over.

"Tough? Uh, yeah, I... I guess that's a good way to put it," you say, nodding. "You get used to it after a while, but it's only because not getting used to it is... a lot worse."

You appreciate the kindness, but it keeps coming. You're not good at this kind of earnestness because you can never tell if it's genuine or not. So you try and keep the surprise off your face and the discomfort from your body language as you listen, and when you finally get a chance to speak, you just try and sound neutral.

"Um... No, that's fine. I, uh, thanks for just being... nice about it. But it's really okay, there isn't anything I can do about it, so I try not to think about too much."

Despite the revealing facts on the limitations of repossessing her body, Kai kept his hopes up. Perhaps somewhere in the strange city existed a person or machine that could revert her body. He chose not to voice this, aware of how blissfully ignorant it sounded, but the ray of hope refused to set in his heart.

He wanted to know what she hoped she looked like, though he knew it was all too soon to ask intrusive questions. The white mask only gave a natural smile, which he took as a possibility for something to grow from their introductions. So, he returned the smile. His eyes wrinkled in the corners and his pearly teeth appeared between a thin gap in his stretching smile. He saw all her troubles and welcomed that as a part of her. He saw her discomfort and knew one day it would lighten. He saw her for who she was inside the tight, red weave: human.

Then the Poseidon's suddenly got his eye on him - for nothing but a wave of hand sure but it's enough for Eiden to almost drop the ice cream. He hadn't been expecting to be noticed....

" HUH? "

" Ah yeah - nice di-- dip yeah, uhhh, nice waves!! Water!! Weather? "

From a safe distance, Kai shook off excess water from his dripping tendrils, head gyrating and water splashing across the dry sand. Then completed his approach, to meet the stranger.

"Nice waves, water, and weather!" he agreed wholeheartedly. His eyes turned to the foamy surf, gazing at the ocean as if she were his soulmate. "Summer's coming to a close; the warm waters will chill. Where I'm from, no matter the weather or the temperature, you must always greet the ocean."

Please don't be talking about you. Please don't be talking about you. Aw, dang.

Nobody's ever said that to you before. You've never even thought something similar before. You don't like how you are because of the stupid mask gimmick, and you never had any say in the matter.

"Uh. Thanks," you say, avoiding eye contact. "But it's not really my style. Some...one? Sure, someone else chose it for me. It's, uh, a digital avatar to match where I was. Or something like that, I don't really know a lot of the specifics."

You're an artist, not a programmer. Though you probably could've come up with some better designs, if you were ever asked.

"Haha, I am!" he replied.

He continued, admitting his humble mistake, "Digital avatars are new to me." Then, puckered his lips and began to process the information. "But what I got from that," he lingered in his thoughts, "it sounds tough." He drew on his own experience being shipped to Hawai'i to "cure" his depression, when all he wanted was his missing best-friend back.

The sudden laughter coming from behind has her wince, turning around abruptly with eyes big with surprise like those of a startled animal. One could swear her pointed ears are lowered just slightly.

"Oh-- uhm," is all Seluna can come up with, at least at the beginning. The following joke and the man's genuine friendliness are enough to make her feel at ease soon enough, small smile tugging at her lips and showing just a little bit of sharp teeth.

"You betcha!"

He patted his pockets for his wallet, paused and shifted his gaze as a whispering memory informed him he didn't have his wallet. Then, he retrieved his phone checking his bank account. He made an audible 'huh', unsure how his bank account was so low-- he had a business, yet his bank refused to transfer the money over. He dismissed his concerns with a wave of his hand, and smiled at his new friend.

"I can make a mean iced tea that you'd want to write home about. I've got the equipment back at my place," he trailed off, a gentle and empathetic look surfaced, "if that's too much, I'll buy you a large one, no questions asked."