[PRP] Breath of Fresh Air (Enipeus+Eroas)

[Meepfur]

It was rare that he ever saw land but at a distance, and even then it was little more than an indistinct blur of off color between sea and sky, a mystery that he would never know. Though he harbored some vague curiosity about it, a fleeting thought here and there about what it actually looked like, felt like, it was easy enough to dismiss; there was no chance he would ever know, much as the land-dwellers would never know what it was like to live beneath the waves, and he had never had a head for daydreams. The world was how it was, he was how he was, and that was all perfectly fine with him.

Still, he did sometimes grow bored, tired of the same old routine in the same old place, and would leave the waters he called home, seeking different sights and new faces - mers and seathi, more often than not, though he had met a kelpi once. His sister had giggled when he told her, dared him to tell their mother and scandalize her, but he hadn't found her suggestion amusing and made her promise not to tell. Even if she had, Amphitrite probably wouldn't have believed her. Enipeus was very good at being a good son, although when it came down to it, Psamathe was the one who had taken their mother's lessons to heart, or at least somewhat more seriously. If he were to be honest, he was surprised that his younger sibling hadn't bowed to their mother's wishes yet and found herself a handsome mer to settle down with. It was a pressure he was familiar with, as Amphitrite fully expected him to find a lady to bring home; she was overly eager for grandchildren, in his opinion, but he would never tell her as much! He and Psamathe commiserated, but they did love their mother, even if she could be a bit...overbearing.

She was, however, surprisingly accepting of his little 'adventures,' encouraged them actually, hoping that one day he might bring home a mate. If she knew how close he sometimes got to land, though, she would probably be much less enthusiastic about his occasional wanderings. Perhaps it was a small, unconscious act of rebellion when he surfaced off the coast, taking a deep breath of sweet air and blinking at the bright blur of sunlight above the water. It was pleasant to float along on the surface at times, enjoying the warm sun on his back and the sounds of calling seabirds. Enipeus allowed himself to drift towards shore, content to relax for awhile. The swim here from his home near the trench was a long one, and now that he'd arrived, he was in no particular hurry. He would linger for a few days, maybe a week, before returning home.

DarkenWoodWolf

 

[DarkenWoodWolf]

Eroas stepped carefully along the rocks and boulders that covered the sandy beach. She had chosen this cove because of the rocks, actually. They were so much easier to walk upon that the sand. Her claws made grooves in some of the softer rocks, while others sharpened the dusky pink claws. Further up beach, away from the water, the sand vanished entirely, giving way to stone-like clay and the beginning of a forest. You could see that she lived there, quiet easily. She made her bed up near the trees, but with a clear path to the water, several smooth stones. There were jagged rocks up near where she slept, but the ones going into the ocean were as smooth as glass in some places. The rocks the ocean beat against, so to speak. She smiled, stepping onto a series of stones that lead down into the water, careful not to slip or damage her claws. It wouldn't do it her any good to try hunting with broken claws.

It had been a while since she had seen anyone, her sister was the most recent, but even that... She couldn't actually recall the last time she had spoken with anyone. Ah well, it wasn't the easiest place to get too, unless you can by sea. And, aside from Kelpi's like herself, and she supposed the mers, their weren't many that would traverse the open waters.

Not many, but apparently a few. Eroas didn't miss the form drifting into her little cove. Maybe he was just enjoying the soothing contrast of the water and the sunlight, but Eroas didn't know. She was willing to find out. Mer or Kelpi? Friend or foe? She smiled to herself, wondering as she slipped down to the rock that was the last she could stand on without going underwater completely. Digging her claws into the sediment, soil and stone alike, so that she wouldn't drift with the waves, she watched him come closer. She wondered if he'd spotted her yet, though with her coloring she wondered how she could be missed. Still, it was possible if he was looking toward the see. Swishing her tail back and forth in the waves and the foam, she watched for a minute more before curiosity got the better of her and she launched herself into the water.

She ducked under the surface for a long moment, enjoying the cool water, the way it pushed at her back and forth as the waves rolled in. Swimming under the water for a moment or two, she pushed herself away from shore with long, powerful strides and swipes of her tail. Surfacing quietly, she was much closer to the stranger, a mer, she was sure of it this time.

"Hello, and welcome to my parlor."

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

Between the bright sun and the poor quality of his vision while above the water, Enipeus couldn't see the cove well enough to fully appreciate it, but as he drifted, so did his gaze - he even thought for a moment he might have seen something move along the beach, but he couldn't be certain, and dismissed it for now. Instead of venturing closer to attempt to discern something (as it was just as likely to have been a trick of the light as anything else), he simply let out a contented sighed and turned over to float upside-down. Sunning for too long could dry him out, but he enjoyed the sun from time to time, the warmth of it so different from the deep waters where he dwelled.

He floated that way for only a minute before righting himself, which was just in time for someone to surface nearby. It was, to be honest, quite a surprise to him, though the only evidence of this was an owlish blink at the stranger as he gathered himself. He was not by any means a reactionary sort.

"Oh, good day," he offered after a moment, polite and even. "This cove is yours? Please, pardon my intrusion. I am Enipeus."

With as little as was visible above the water, he couldn't tell if she was mer or kelpi, but it would have been rude to duck under the surface to see.

DarkenWoodWolf

 

[DarkenWoodWolf]

For the time being she was glad she left her mask and necklace on shore. Eroas had simply forgotten to put them on, and would once she returned to her den, but for the time being, it was very interesting to see someone else wearing a mask while she, herself, did not.It made her wonder about what the mer looked like without it, and why he wore it. Thw why was more important to her than the what. So far, she hadn't come across anyone else, on land or sea, who wore one. That made him all the more interesting.

For all she had hoped to spook him with her sudden apperance, the mer just sorta blinked at her and moved into a complite conversation. Eroas couldn't help the way her eyebrows climbed in incredulity for a moment, but then she remembered she was without her mask, so she would seem as regular as any other mer or Kelpi who decided to swim this portion of the waterways.

"Well, hello Enipeus." She practically purred, amused dispite herself at his cordial manner. Eroas kept her head easily above water, claws spread wide under the surface as she kicked to keep herself up. She could float, but it would put her too low in the water to have a conversation without getting a mouth full of water every time she opened it to speak. And that was not only rude, but annoying as well. And her 'guest' was so well behaved so far, she would hate to be rude in anyway.

With a sly smile and a flick of her powerful tail, she ended up circling the mer, this Enipeus, this polite and apparently gentle being, wondering what she should do with him now. It was not often there were visitors to her cove, at least not of the Soquili variety. She would be nice, she decided, at least for the time being. If he got boring, or agitated her, well, her claws were for much more than swimming.

"The cove is mine, yes, but I claim only the land. Only foolish creatures call the sea their own." She swam around him again, still amused. "True, I would call the water here my territory, but I would never seek to cliam any part of Her as my own. In the water, we all share Her, do we not?" Eroas was referring, of course, to the ocean itself. It's spirit, it's life. And one only had to look at the waves and the currents and the fissures to see that the water was as alive as they, only in a much different way.

"So, there is no intrusion, since you have stayed in the bay. Not that you could really do much else." She smiled at him, quick as the sun's reflection on the water. "But if you wish to sun yourself on the rocks in my cove, you are more than welcome to do so. It does get rather loney this far from anywhere." Of course, the lack of others getting into her business was one of the reasons that she lived so far from anyplace she knew was densely populated. Eroas was not one for herd life.

"I am Eroas." She said abrubtly, with less grace than she had intended, for she had nearly forgotton that he had offered her his name and she had yet to do the same. "Forgive my slow introduction. I seem to only have a slight grasp on my manners this morning.It is so rare that I get visitors, you see."

Meepfur