Warm Sushi - A PRP for Ember Heart and Yakinori

[Bardess Ookami]

Ember pulled herself out of the ocean and up onto the shore. She loved it. Every time her head broke the surface of the water she felt as though she were being born anew. Or maybe, that the world was. The day felt filled with possibility. Today was no different. Her head had broken the surface as the warm air surrounded her, embracing her. She loved the warm weather and the sky, but mostly what she loved..

Ember pushed herself into the sand, getting cozy, digging herself out an indentation in the sand and nearly burying herself in warm moist sand, leaving her head and hair out, laying back like the damp dune under her were a pillow.

She snuggled into her sand-bed more and closed her eyes, letting the brightness of the sun press in against her closed eyelids. This... was amazing. This was the life. This was peace.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Yakinori had gotten into an argument with his sister, who was being stubborn and isolent. They were the other set of twins, and they were always getting in trouble just like him and Funa.

They'd been pulling pranks on each other for weeks now until one of the girls blew up at them. They'd yelled snide remarks at each other until one of their Dad's told them both to go cool off.

So here he was, trying to cool off at the beach.

He kicked his hooves in the golden sand, and muttered a bit darkly. Not paying attention, he tripped over something on the beach. Hitting the sand hard with his face, he turned to look at the prone creature....A merpony! She looked...dead or hurt or stuck.

"Are you okay?" He said with wide eyes.  

[Bardess Ookami]

"OW!" the exclamation burst out of her as his hoof struck her. Her head pulled out of the sand and she saw him sprawled before her. "Oh waves!" she said, alarmed. She pulled free of the sand and rolled onto her belly before using her hooves to pull her closer to him along the shore. "Are you okay?" She asked, concerned, her head nuzzling his, concerned. Had she hurt him? Oh! She just hoped to all that was good that he was okay. Her head tilted as she looked him over for injuries, concern on her face as her hair trailed damply across his cheek.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Yakinori jerked away from her touch, his mind had not quite processed that she wasn't dead or unconscious. It took a minute for his pulse to slow down. "Uhm, yeah. I'm fine."

He looked up through the waves of her hair, at the concern on her face. His experience with females had been with his sisters--who hide tricks behind bright smiles. "Uhm...Why were you on the sand? Are you okay? I thought you were you know..."  

[Bardess Ookami]

"Thought I was.... what?" she asked, relieved that he was unhurt. The expression moved across her face and as she breathed, she realized she had been holding her breath before. She had no clue what he had thought she was... a sand crab, perhaps?  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

"Well, you were laying there...on the beach. You're a merpony, I didn't think you came on the beach. I tripped over you, and you were just...still. I thought you were dead," he said in hesitating sentences.

"So, when you spoke, you freaked me out." He paused a little suspicious his sister's had set this up. "Is this a joke? Kisu? Ikura? This isn't funny!"  

[Bardess Ookami]

She blinked in surprise. "I was asleep..." she said but trailed off when she realized that he was not listening. "A joke?" she asked. "Why would this be a joke? I fail to see what is funny here, you got hurt." Well, so did she, but somehow, his pain was more important. Someone else's hurt almost always was. Her tail flipped in the water a bit, throwing a shower of spray across her back. Now that she was out of the sand she was too hot and too cold in patches.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Yakinori shivered as the cold water touched him, but he snapped out of his looking for his sister. "Sorry, my sisters...they like to play jokes. So I thought they might be trying to scare me or...This sounds stupid doesn't it? I disturbed your nap. I'm sorry, can I...make it up to you." He stretched out his tail and flipped water back her gently.  

[Bardess Ookami]

"There is nothing to make up to me," she assured him, feeling the splashing of water from both of their tails. "I am just glad that you are alright." She squirmed backwards and to the side, to give him some room to get up, lowering her lower half back into the water. "A nap is a nap, I can take one whenever, so there is no bother, no interruption." She gave him a warm smile, and stretched her tail in the water.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

He smiled at her, she truly didn't seem to mind the inconvenience of being woken up. Yakinori couldn't testify that that would have been his same reaction, he did not like being woken up suddenly--his sisters had done it too often for bad reasons. One too many times waking up with a jellyfish zapping your face and you grew wary of them.

Taking a second look at her, he saw the glowing burst on her chest--like embers from a fire. He wondered if perhaps her skin was hot, was it why she relished the heat so much? And her eyes were like burning coals, two stars admist a sea of black. He blushed and looked away, "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Yakinori."  

[Bardess Ookami]

"I am Ember Heart," she said, with a small nod of her head, the motion almost regal for its simplicity. Her voice was warm and kind. "A pleasure to formally make your acquaintance, Sir Yakinori." She shifted her head to flick some hair out of her eyes. "As I said before, there is nothing to make up to me, and nothing to make up for, however, if you have the time and amenable, I would not mind some company."  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

He smiled at her warmly. An evening away from his sister's joking would be nice...but then he wouldn't get to spend any time pulling jokes of his own...and it didn't seem right to pull jokes on this mare. Sighing, he sat down. "I have an afternoon. I promise, I'm interesting." He looked out to the sea for a moment. "Do you often beach yourself up here and sun? Do you play jokes on people or like jokes?" It was a natural question to ask.

"Is your skin warm?" He felt his own colour up for a split second when he said that. "I forget my manners," the words came to his lips without meaning too--something he was taught to say when he'd done something wrong. It'd long ago lost it's flavour as more than what he should say. He had not yet learned how to be mean it, to be sincere in more than joking.  

[Bardess Ookami]

Ember Heart chuckled slightly at the deluge of words. She smiled warmly at him. "Hmm, shall we see if I can reply to each comment in order?" she asked, smiling a bit. "Alright, let us see if I can," she said brightly. She closed her eyes to recall what he had said in order. "An afternoon would be lovely. I am certain that you are interesting, there is no need to reassure me." She considered, then nodded. "Yes, I do often beach myself to sun. I love the warmth of the sun and sand, while keeping the dampness of the beach around me. It is a wonderful feeling, and quite relaxing. I do not play jokes on others. As to if I like jokes, I do suppose that would depend on the joke, wouldn't it?"

What else had he asked. She tried to remember. Finally she frowned and shook her head, hair moving to rest in damp strands around her neck and shoulders, prettily. "I am sorry," she said, sounding contrite. "I cannot recall what else you asked." And she had been doing so well too... or had she? What of she had forgotten more than she realized? She sighed a bit, somewhat annoyed with herself. Not a lot, but... a little.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

He smiled back at her, his own smile almost a reflection of hers--one that he wasn't able to stop but just seemed to happen."Why ever would you think I'm interesting?"

She didn't pull jokes, that was a bit sad but she did like them. "I've hardly ever met a joke I didn't like," he remembered fondly the time he'd scared his sister by making her think her hair had turned to seaweed. She had deserved it after dying his hair blue.


When she confessed that she couldn't remember what else he'd asked, he couldn't force himself to ask her if her skin was warm. It seemed, suddenly, to be too embarrassing to say which was an entirely new thing.

Instead, he asked. "Well can you tell me a joke you thought was funny?"  

[Bardess Ookami]

"Hmmmm," she said, trying to keep everything straight. Her certainly gave her a lot to respond to all at once. "Alright, attempting the order again, though I do still feel like I must have missed something before. Let's see... Why ever would I think you are interesting. Well, I think most everyone has the potential, so right off the bat, the odds are in your favor. Then, in addition to that, you ask things and say things at such a speed, I have to constantly keep on my tail and pay attention. So I can't see myself ever getting bored. Wouldn't you call that interesting?"

"As to jokes, and specifically a joke I found funny..." she leaned her head back, hooves planted in the sand, so she could arch and stretch her neck. "I need to think on that," she admitted, splashing them lightly with ocean spray, as she pondered. "Alright. So, a Nixie goes to an Usida fortune telling booth at a faire, and asks the fortune teller if she truly can see the future. She assures the male Nyxie that she can. He asks her if she really can, she swears she really can. So he splashed her with some water, and when she sputtered, he said, 'Usida seen that one coming.' I also heard another joke about the same Usida fortune teller, it was more of a riddle though. If the Usida fortune teller was taken into custody but escaped, and you were hunting for her, what should you tell the news carriers to say to people?"