bakerstreet | Under the Sea AU Meme

Under the Sea AU Meme

Under the Sea AU Meme

Whether it’s the little mermaid or 20,000 leagues, this meme is all about the mysterious depths of the sea and the creatures that live in it. Which now very well may include you. Are you a marine biologist, a submarine explorer, or a creature of the dark and murky abyss? Perhaps, like Ahab, you’ve spent years on the waves, hunting some creature that lurks beneath. Perhaps you live in a house by the sea, and every night you watch the waves, but tonight the waves have dragged in something new and different.

There are unknown realms beneath the sea. Dread Cthulhu sleeps. Ariel sings. And adventure is awaiting.

How to play:
- Post with your character’s preferred role and a prompt or two, along with preferences and any canon or AU info that might be important.
- Venture forth into the watery deeps.

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You have? I guess if you live close by that makes sense. I go by here all the time. Especially in the weekends.

[Sora on the other hand doesn't seem nearly so shy or uncertain, more curious if anything as he stares, watching as Riku gestures to the ocean. He doesn't seem to have clicked on the potential stalking. Not yet. Or if he has he doesn't seem to mind.]

Yeah. [He hefts himself up a little further, to lean his forearms on the rock. If he knew him better, he might be less cautious -- but despite his desire to interact and his curiosity, instinct is still driving his reactions.] You come here with friends a lot too, right?

Yeah. After school though it's usually me the last to head back home. I take it you've seen Tidus, Kairi and Wakka too, huh?

[He probably has. If he's asking about them too, and has seen Sora himself more than this one time as well. Sora shifts a little more to get comfortable, torn between watching the ocean, the waves, and staring at Riku for a moment.]

I guess we probably do seem kind of strange to you. I mean, with our feet and everything.

[He dips one bare foot in the water, wriggling his toes as he kicks them lightly.]

I... probably. [His voice is uncertain, thoughtful. He's heard those names. So probably. But he's not sure who is who, either.

Sora mentions his feet and Riku can't help but turn to blink at the one closer to him. He's right... they are pretty strange.]

Mmhmm. But then... I don't look any less weird to you. Right?

[He angles his body a little so the place where his hips and tail connect is visible, scales reflecting the light against the rock. Once he feels he's indicated what he's talking about well enough, he settles back to where he was in the water.]

It's weird thinking about it. I always watched the humans, but... I don't get a very good idea of them from out here.

True. And hey, now's your chance to get a closer look!

[Sora's just as curious, tilting his head a little when Riku shifts and shows more of his bottom half, where the tail and hips connect. His blue eyes widening a little as he studies the sight until Riku dips back down more.]

I guess it's mostly the legs and feet that are different? If I had fins too, I'd be a merman myself. Or is it more? [What with the merfolk obviously being able to breathe underwater. Their lungs were probably different.]

[Riku's so confused about those feet, though. Why do they have tiny fingers...? Somehow, though, it's nicer to look at Sora's face than marvel over his feet.]

Well... there's that, and we can breathe both the air and the water. You'd think we wouldn't be able to come up at all, and I'm not sure how it works, but -- anyway. Those things, and... can you use magic at all?

[He has no idea about it. It seems to him he's never seen a human use magic.]

Ours isn't -- I can't make things into other things, but I can control the water.

Magic? I've read about it. But I've never used any myself.

[He knows fishes have gills or the like, but then Riku would always need water, and he's not underwater just now. So there must be some other way he can manage to breath above and below the water.]

You can control the water? That's pretty cool! And you can transform things?

No, I can't change things. Though that would be pretty fun, I think, [he adds softly. There's a moment where he looks down at the water, then back up to Sora's face. He's clearly considering something.]

How about... we go sit on the dock?

The dock? That wouldn't be too high up?

[Or maybe being there wouldn't be so troublesome for Riku if only for a little while. Sora isn't quite sure what to expect from that question, but he gives a nod of agreement anyway. He's able to manage heading for the dock easily enough himself at least.]

You mean so I can stay submerged? If I have to, I can always get back in the water. But I can get out no problem.

[He ducks back under the water. Off he goes to meet Sora by the boats, and when Sora arrives he can be found sitting (in a puddle) on the edge of it, looking out across the water. His tail is swinging idly, the fin at the end curving and unfurling in a lazy rhythm. Seems like he jumped.]

... Hi.

I guess...

[He did say he could control the water, right? Or something like that. Which probably explains how he made it up there by the time Sora approaches the dock from the beach, sitting next to the other and dangling his feet over the edge, swinging them.]

Heh. So you did make it. Why'd you want to come up here then?

[It isn't much. Sora himself usually prefers the nearby tree to laze on, or the beach itself, rather than the dock. Though it is necessary, of course, in keeping his boat here.]

It's just easier to talk, isn't it? If we're face to face. It's weird looking upward all the time.

[He's instantly distracted again by Sora's legs and feet, and isn't really shy about leaning over to peer down at them.]

Walking seems complicated.

Ah, I guess that's true. You'd get a sore neck after a while!

[As Sora himself is aware, from his own many evenings watching the sunset on the way home. Still, it's kind of hard not to notice the way Riku stares at his bare feet, and he can't help giving a small smile, almost incredulous.]

Walking? There's also running and jumping too. And swimming. All of that is probably different to how you get around in the water. But we learn it all pretty quickly. Most of us are walking by the time we're about a year old or so.

Mm. Merpeople can swim as soon as they've hatched. But you all can swim too, can't you? It's different than what we do, I'd imagine.

[Riku stares down at Sora's toes for a little longer, then blinks back up to his face. He's so casual... Riku's mind is bubbling with questions, and he's not really sure where he wants to start first.]

Yeah, we can swim! I grew up swimming around here. I'm surprised I didn't see you before now, if you're often up this close to shore. But you're right, our swimming probably is different. We have to kick, and use our arms. Usually we stay closer to the surface for air, unless we're diving for something though.

[He assumes pretty much almost the opposite for the merfolk. For obvious tail related reasons.]

That's true. You aren't really built for the water. Though if you weren't at all, you wouldn't be able to float.

[Riku pulls his tail up, bent in the middle so that he can curl his hand around the base of his fin, the ends of it curling a little so he doesn't get Sora wet.]

For us, swimming is easy. But I can't use this to move out of the water very well. Technically I'm not meant to be out of it, after all.

I can float. Just probably not as easily as you can. But I guess that's true. You can't really walk around, without legs. Without feet.

[Still. He can't blame the other for being so curious. Sora is himself, even if he's lived at the beaches forever like this. Always been around the ocean. Riku must see so much more of it....]

What's it like? Down that deep under the ocean? There's only so far we can get, even diving and all. Or swimming normally closer to the shore most of the time.

It's... cold, actually. And dark. I like it up here a lot more, by the reef. It's a little harder to hide from the humans there, though. ... As you saw.

[Now that he's thinking about it again, though, he's still pretty embarrassed.]

Though if there'd been someone besides you here, I would have been in trouble.

Hm. That's true. The water isn't so deep or dark this close to the surface where you were watching from. But I don't think you'd be in trouble. I'm sure the others would be curious too. I don't think Tidus or the others would hurt you. Selphie would probably have her year made if she saw you....

[But Riku isn't entirely wrong. There probably would be some humans more motivated by research or greed that would want to study or sell the merfolk or some such.]

You trust your friends, huh?

[He's quiet, letting his tail go to hang off the edge of the dock again. He isn't really certain about how much he wants to explain about his world.]

It's just that, we're predators, but there are things that are above us in the food chain, too. Humans are part of that, even if they don't eat us.

Course I do. You have friends too, right? Other merfolk?

[Still, he listens, as he glances to the tail when Riku shifts it. Predators. Sora never really thought about humans in that sort of equation. Not really. But he can't deny that truth, given they do eat a lot of fish on the Islands, for obvious supply reasons of there being so many it became a staple of their diet.]

No, I guess that's true. I mean, we eat a lot of fish. So we could be impacting how much you have.

Not -- a lot, [he admits.] Mostly animals. Merfolk are pretty rare, actually. We're solitary. And not just from fishing.

[Riku sighs gently, uncertain how to explain.] Humans... think the ocean is theirs to do what they want with. Part of the reason we're so split up as a species is because it's less likely for us to get caught or hurt if we're apart. A concentration of us would just draw attention. Not to mention that some of them are just -- mean-spirited.

Oh, really? I guess in some ways we can be solitary too. But I like being with my friends or family. You guys at least like with your family, right?

[He pauses after asking that, considering the explanation.]

But not all of us are like that. Or, I'd like to think I do my part. That most all of us here on the Islands would.

[Because the ocean and fish are so important to them. Not that Sora can really talk for elsewhere of course. Maybe with bigger concentrations of people that is true. But he would like to think the Islanders do their part to look out for the ocean and sea-life.]

We do as children. Once we're old enough, though, we separate. Mates stay together, but beyond that, we don't stay in groups.

[Riku has been old enough for three or four years to be on his own. He should, by rights, be finding a mate of his own at this point. He's never really wanted that, though. He's more interested in the human world.]

Maybe not. You guys depend on the ocean just like we do, after all.

Oh. I guess that kind of makes sense. Same as us, really.

[Sora himself was in a similar predicament of sorts. He and his friends are around that age where crushes and relationships tend to start at the least.]

Of course we do! So we wouldn't be doing anything to ruin the ocean and our food source. Our swimming.

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