✧༺♥༻fuck off༺♥༻✧

“Well I suppose in a way, we’re opposite.” To emphasize her point Ellora looked at one of the potted plants on the windowsill beside them and she reached her hand out, letting her fingers touch one of the flower buds, smiling as it immediately bloomed into a pretty yellow flower. “I need nature to..well, okay, not to survive but…it’s a big part of me. I couldn’t imagine living under water where I couldn’t be around trees and grass and greenery.” As she spoke Ellora looked back, giving her a little smile as she shrugged, “And it’s terrifying because of how vast it is. Man has barely discovered over twenty percent of the ocean. I mean–look at you! Your kind and your kingdoms were never known until now. And not even with the underneath, the above is also something deserving of being fearful of at times. Riptides can easily kill someone. Tidal waves, tsunamis…The ocean is as beautiful as it is terrifying.” She ended with a little nod, looking quite proud of her analysis of it all.

When the conversation turned back to herself and her lack of friends Ellora’s smile dimmed just slightly, “Most of my friends are the people in the pages I read. And since I spend so much time reading, or in here…” she trailed off, shrugging again. “But I don’t mind it. And for the record I don’t think you’re a….– I think you’ve been perfectly fine with me.”

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

Xavi watched the green witch do some really cool voodoo shit on the plant. Well, she didn’t actually know what the word ‘voodoo’ meant but she knew it related to magic. The point was it was really impressive to watch. She literally brought a flower to life. What Ellora was saying was interesting because Xavi found herself feeling the opposite; that Earth was a deadly place too, after all. “I mean, I think you need oxygen more than any of that shit unless you got a spell to grow gills or some shit that I don’t know about? But if you were a mer-witch, you’d probably work with like seagrass and algae and seaweed and coral and shit instead. It’s not like plants are just a land thing." It was ironic Ellora brought up how little man had discovered, because of how deep merfolk fear ran that humans were closing in on their territory. “Yeah well...it kinda feels like humans are close to discovering everything on their own at this point. And they’re fucking up our lands with how they treat the ocean too.” Xavérie rolled her eyes, not even trying to hide her annoyance with humans. “You guys have earthquakes and mudslides and....Gotta say, we don’t worry about the sky just reaching down and spinning us like a tippe top.”

Ellora not having friends because she was always reading made some sense, but it still surprised Xavi nonetheless. “If you don’t think I’m a bitch, then I need to step up my game.” She shook her head and laughed slightly. “Well...to answer your question from before. Yeah....friends.”

Open starter: @paradisusstart​

The island was finally beginning to get back to normal after the attack. Everything that had been damaged was either already rebuilt or not terribly far from being finished. Of course, the residents of the island were still trying to get through their own traumas, but most had recovered from their injuries and were finally starting to fall back into their routines. This was the first time in months Ignas had seen On the Rocks this packed. Despite the rush, he was thankful for some form of normalcy back in his life. 

“What can I get started for ya?” Ignas asked as he leaned against the counter as the other sat down at the bar.

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

Xavi had never been in a bar. She’d always tried so hard to blend in and now she could just....be. Get a drink, relax, and not worry about watching her back. But as she stared at all the bottles on the shelf, she had no idea where to start. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had alcohol before but she’d never had this kind of variety to pick from. “I don’t know. We don’t exactly have bars in the Pacific Kingdom....being underwater and all that. What do land creatures usually order?” It felt weird to be blunt about where she was from, but she could get used to being able to openly say so.

-

“Well, I’ve read enough books about our species to know that humans like to paint us all in a bad light. Apart from wanting to know if mermaids even existed, I’ve always wanted to know just what all humans got wrong.” He shrugged, not exactly wanting to say anything about how he’d always read mermaids lured men to their deaths or anything like that. “Just-.. I don’t know. I want to know about you. How you live, your abilities if you have any..” Alex didn’t even know what to ask, almost like he couldn’t believe it and it was causing his mind to draw a blank. “I mean I could probably even find some of the books I used to read here.”

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

After living on land for so long, Xavi had a solid grasp on how humans viewed ‘sirènes’, as they were often called. “I’ve never used sex appeal to kill a man, unfortunately. Not even sure where those rumors come from. My mom was a horrible singer, the sailors would have ran from her voice as fast as they could.” She shrugged. It was rare that she mentioned her parents, but her mom had always loved to sing despite not having the talent to back it up. “But we can see in the dark, and have better-than-human hearing. We can hypnotize humans, which....is actually probably where the whole myth comes from now that I think about it. And we can partially transform in land. Eyes, fangs, webbed hands. You know, the usual.”

.

Ellora smiled at her again, glad that the other girl–the mermaid– wasn’t (too) annoyed with her excitement. At the question about the ocean though, she shook her head, “Not until here, no. I’m from another country, England. And my town was quite landlocked. I never saw the ocean until I flew over it on the way here. In person anyways. Of course I saw photos and videos, read about it in my books. Seeing it, feeling it, that’s something else entirely. It’s…wonderful. If not a little terrifying too.” The ocean could wash away everything after all.

When Xavi spoke of her lack of friends, Ellora’s expression softened, “I can say the same. My sister is my best friend, but other than her, I was never exactly miss popular. The characters in my books were more my friends than anything else, so…” she trailed off, shrugging as she held her hand out, a grin once again overtaking her face. “Friends?”

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

Xavi opened her mouth to ask, Isn’t England an island? But before she could say that Ellora further explained. “That’s crazy.” Her mouth hung open slightly. “I need salt water to survive. So...I can’t imagine that. Wait, why terrifying?”

She was surprised Ellora didn’t have many friends. Did she scare them off by getting too excited? Xavi thought better of asking that question. She hopped up on the table next to the manga she’d been reading. “I get that I don’t have a lot of friends cause I’m kinda a bitch and that’s cool with me. But....you’re nice and shit. People should be lining up to be your friend.”

-

Alex let out a little huff at her response, though he should be used to little quips like that by now because of Charlie, but he also supposed he deserved it, considering the fact he so rudely jumped into it. But it was when she added the last bit that he felt a bit stupid. Should he have figured it out sooner or was she just trying to be annoying? Perhaps both. “C’mon, don’t say it like that… Like I’m the only person who didn’t know you were.” Alex paused for a moment as he thought before adding, “I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know… was I? You know… never mind. It doesn’t matter.” He said as he pulled out a chair to sit across from her. “I have so many questions. I’ve read about mermaids my whole life, but they were just legends and most of the books were written by humans, so I doubt there was much truth behind any of it, but I want to know. I’ve always wanted to know.” Alex had always been curious and always wanted to learn about as much as he could. It was one of the reasons he understood witchcraft so well, he’d been studying it for most of his life despite not being able to use it at all. 

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

As Alex sat across from Xavi, she sighed and removed her feet from the table. Now it was time to try to figure out what to do with them again. She wrapped them around the chair legs, and decided that was good enough for now. “You weren’t the only person. Actually, you were the only one who was obviously suspicious of me." Well, at least of her being a mermaid. That overly eager cop was also suspicious of her but not because of her species. He kept gushing, and it reminded her of Ellora’s response to learning about it. “Actually, Ellora did figure it out before the announcement. But, besides her you’re the only one.” 

He spoke about books, and her eyebrow raised slowly in curious surprise. She knew humans had their own legends of mermaids, but she’d never heard about them in too much depth. “Always? You didn’t know we existed until a few days ago” She tilted her eyebrow back up.” She didn’t expect him to be so talkative and excited about this topic. “But sure, I’ll bite. What have you ‘always’ wanted to know?”

Closed starter: @xaviam​

Alex had known Xavi for quite some time now. She seemed to frequent the library, and there was always something so interesting about her that Alex felt he just had to talk to her, which was odd for someone as quiet and introverted as Alex. They weren’t necessarily friends, but they’d formed at least some kind of relationship.

Something that always bothered Alex though, was that he couldn’t tell her species and she wasn’t willing to give him that information, although he never really asked. He noticed that her scent was different from the others, and he couldn’t tell exactly why. But when the king announced the existence of mermaids, not only was Alex excited to know they were real, considering he’d read plenty of books about them when he was a kid and always wished they were, he also finally figured out why he couldn’t tell Xavi’s scent. She was a mermaid. She had to be. 

Spotting her at one of the tables in the library, Alex made his way over to her, setting the books in his hands on the table, which made just enough noise to get her attention. “You’re a mermaid, aren’t you? Wait- sorry, that’s kind of rude.” Alex shook his head. It wasn’t like him to pry so much but he had to know. “But… I’m right, aren’t I?”

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

Even though Xavi had over a decade of experience with legs before, she often found it hard to really get comfortable when in her land form. She knew exactly how to move her tail to get comfortable, but between the stronger gravity and having two lower limbs, she was never quite sure how the fuck to position herself. Finally, she leaned back and placed her legs up on the table and got into her book. 

That was until someone set books down on her table. "What the fu-” She started, ready to tell the person off before she realized it was Alex’s scent. And he just....jumped right into what was on his mind. The last time they had spoken, the tone had been quite different with them both skirting around each other and Xavi avoiding answering his questions. “Hey, good morning to you too. I’m fine, thanks for asking.” She quipped at him, although Alex never struck her as someone who was passionate about small talk. Just as well, because she wasn’t a fan of it either. But she smirked at his question the second time around. “Took you long enough. What gave me away? It was my scent, wasn’t it?”

.

Ellora tried to tamper herself and reel it in, but she was excited. She couldn’t wait to go home and call her sister and tell her–in fact, she wondered if her sister knew. It wouldn’t be all that surprising, given Meena’s job took her all over the world and to all walks of life. But still. Mermaids. “O-Okay. Okay. Right. Sorry.” She shook her head a little at herself, biting her lip as she forced herself to relax. Even before she knew what she was, Ellora liked Xavi. She wanted to get to know her more- become friends. And she couldn’t exactly do that if she scared her off. So she let out a breath, shaking off the last bit of it all before she nodded, “That’s um..that’s understandable. It’s all new. For everyone. I’d never even seen the ocean til I came here. So it’s..an adjustment. But it’s easier….if you have people in your corner. People to talk to and lean on. Friends.” this time her smile was softer, almost like trying to coax a spooked animal into coming closer. “And I’ll..look forward to meeting more. And even helping if um…if needed. For anything.”

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

As Ellora apologized, Xaverie felt a little bit guilty for ruining the exciting news for her. “Fine. You can fangirl a little bit more.” She crossed her arms in front of her. Xavi didn’t really trust humans, or any land species for that matter, but it was so hard to be distant and mean to Ellora. It was like being mean to a pufferfish, she just couldn’t do it. “You never saw the ocean?” Xavi was surprised by that. She supposed there were a lot of mermaids who never saw land (especially with the low birthrates in recent decades), but she’d pretended to be a human for years and always lived on the ocean; she had to in order to survive. The idea of living away from a coast just didn’t add up to her. 

Friends. Xavi tried her hardest not to show a reaction, but she could feel a small smile forming on her lips anyways. “I’ve never really had a lot of friends.” She admitted. That was especially true after she ran away from home so long ago. “Well...if you want to help, I’ve been trying to catch up on world history from the past ninety years.”

.

Sean looked at her. “Great.” He said standing up. “If you’re not going to take this serious, then you might feel more inclined to leave the sarcasm at the door after a 48-hour holding.” He had better things to do, she wasn’t going anywhere until he was satisfied with her answers, 2 days in a cell could make someone understand how serious this was.

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

“I can’t leave the sarcasm anywhere. It’s a blessing and a curse, but mostly a blessing.” Xavi leaned back in the chair and folded her arms. But then she realized the rest of what he had said. “48-hour holding?” She had no idea what that meant. Would she have to hold onto something for two days? Was that some kind of punishment to land creatures? “I don’t know how I can take this seriously when I don’t even know why I’m here. It’s not like I’ve done anything wrong.....kicked puppies aside.”

.

Priya caught the scent of one of her own on the sea breeze and it made her relax, even more so when she realized who it was. Xavi was (mostly) more bark than bite, but Priya appreciated it just the same. They couldn’t exactly let themselves be walked all over in a whole new world–especially now. “It’s fine.” She assured, her fin wading in the water coming up along the shoreline as she nodded to the other. “You’re welcome to the do the same. It’s…liberating, in a way. Not having to feel like we have to hide anymore.” She looked down to her tail as she said it, scales glittering like jewels under the sun. “But it’s also quite terrifying.” She added with a laugh, shrugging. “So I wouldn’t blame you if you turned the offer down, Xavi.”

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

Xavi chose to stay in her human form, but took her sandals off and sat next to Priya, legs straight out in front of her. As a wave dissipated against her skin, she leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment. The salt water felt so nice. Priya had invited her to shift as well, but she scrunched up her face slightly and shook her head a little. It may have been safe now, but Xavi was so used to hiding; not just on Paradisus, but it had been life or death to stay hidden in Nazi-occupied France. And while she knew she geographically far away from there and living in a completely different time, she wasn’t as ready to let her guard down yet. “I’m not usually one to turn down a challenge, but I’m good for now.” She admitted, staring and Priya’s tail again. Not only did the queen have a gorgeous tail, but it was so nice to see a tail against the sand in the open like this. Like it was a major step forward. “Liberating, huh?” She repeated Priya, and looked back at her. “So what happens next? More merfolk on the island?”

-

Alex was almost annoyed by her response even though he knew he shouldn’t have been. It was true. Everyone did show up at random on the island, and the island was still slowly receiving brand new residents each day, so he knew he sounded stupid when he’d said it. But several months ago, there were several new residents that he, along with others, almost found odd- as odd as you could get to other supernatural creatures, and Alex couldn’t tell their species by their scents, which made him feel like he couldn’t trust any of them. He’d noticed it almost immediately with Xavi when they first met. But Alex had come to like Xavi, even if he was still a bit distrusting, especially now after the attack.

Alex watched her as she continued, surprised he’d even pulled that much information out of her. He hadn’t even tried that hard. “England.” Alex wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to tell her where he came from. She hadn’t asked and he wasn’t planning on telling her anything. He supposed it was fine since he hadn’t lived in England since he was a child, having moved to the states when he was nine years old, maybe another thing that made it odd to tell her, considering his accent was so… Americanized. But maybe he told her because he almost missed it, though he wasn’t sure why, because while it carried some of his best memories, it also carried some of his worst.

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

England. Well that was new information. His accent seemed like a cross between English and American to her, but since the two had been the same country at some point she wouldn’t have been surprised if somewhere in America sounded a little bit British. She nodded at him telling that much about himself, but there wasn’t really much to add. So, to keep the conversation going, she decided to answer the question about the pack. “I’m not part of the pack either, by the way. I’m not really a team player, if you hadn’t noticed.”

It was Charlie’s first weekend back to work at the bakery since the attack. The last month had been spent sorting through all her own traumas and emotions over it but she finally felt okay enough to go back–not only mentally but physically. She all but had full mobility in her arm after being shot but she kept a wrap around the wound, the area not quite fully scarred just yet. 

She was putting trays of muffins and smaller pastries into the display case when someone walked in and she glanced over. “You need help picking something or do you know what you want?”

@paradisusstart​

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

It was no secret that one of Xavi’s favorite things about being on land was the food. She wasn’t a big fan of humans....but the things they invented to eat? Amazing. She could admit that much. So it was only a matter of time before she tried out the island’s bakery. Before she got there she just kind of assumed she would know what she wanted. But as she actually entered, she saw how much there was to pick from. The girl working there asked if she needed help. “Uh...yeah. Definitely.” She said, still clearly overwhelmed. She knew what a lot of the individual things were, but she hadn’t had most of it in almost a century and it all kind of blurred together. But most people didn’t know she had much experience living on land - West knew her before she ran away to the surface as a kid, and she’d mentioned living in France to Alex before he knew she was one of the merfolk. 

“I’m...uh, from the ocean.” She explained, feeling weird just openly saying that to a stranger when it had always been a secret. She wasn’t sure how she felt about their species just being common knowledge now, but she knew they couldn’t have kept up the secret much longer. “So I don’t really know much about anything in here or what I like....but I know I like chocolate. Does that help?”

Priya had spoken to King Octavian days before the attack, fully ready to have an announcement about her kind made. But then hunters, humans jostled the peace that had surrounded the island, and she didn’t exactly think it was the best time for it all to come to light. But things were settling a bit again, the resilience of the people here admittedly a bit inspiring, so Priya chose now to come clean and reveal just who (and what) they were.

Which is why she felt okay now to sit on the shoreline, trying not to feel nervous as she let her tail shift, her iridescent scales glinting under the bright sun. “There’s no need to stare.” She called out as she felt someone walking nearby.

@paradisusstart​

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

The announcement about merfolk being real felt....anticlimactic. It was great news to be welcome in Paradisus and to not have to hide anymore, but Xavi thought it would be a lot more life changing. She anticipated a total 180 on the lives the aquatic creatures had been living on the island so far. Then she saw Priya, laying on the shoreline with her visible tail. Suddenly, the Council’s announcement felt so much more real. Priya called out to her, and she slowly approached. “Didn’t mean to stare, sorry.” She shrugged, sitting down next to the Queen. “Just absorbing recent....developments.”

-

Alex knew that any questions he asked were going to be returned because he didn’t expect her to trust him any more than he trusted her, but he hadn’t expected his question to be answered with another question. Maybe he wasn’t thinking straight, given he was paranoid and felt anxiety due to standing near the place he almost died, but maybe it was foolish for him to give away that he wasn’t in the pack. “Well, you just kind of showed up, so..” He was referring to the way Xavi had showed up around the time the new (and almost odd) residents had shown up as well, residents Alex couldn’t tell by their scents either. 

(✿ ͡❛ ︹ ͡❛)

Xavi didn’t really trust Alex, but she also didn’t distrust him. She liked him well enough from her trips to the library and he was a shifter, which was as close as you could get to merfolk without gills. Something seemed....off about him today, though. But they weren’t close friends, so Xavi couldn’t put her finger on it. She was thinking about maybe answering him. No, I’m not in the pack. I was never a huge fan of group participation. But then he said something else, and she found it to be a somewhat confusing statement. “Everyone ‘just kind of showed up’ at some point. This was a deserted island two years ago.” She pointed out. “But if you must know, I'm from France.” Sort of. The water off the coast of France technically, but close enough.