bakerstreet | Blinded me with science

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Blinded me with science

more than E X P E R I M E N T A L

In this laboratory setting you've found yourself in - be it a shady, fly-by-night hackjob, a secret governmental facility, or a sleek, state-of-the art facility - there's no room for error. What's done is done for science: pure, perfect, uncorrupted by human foibles. Data is the only language spoken, reason the guiding light. And for all this progress to occur smoothly, everyone must know their proper role, from the specialists at work to the lowly crew...and, of course, any experiments involved. Some more bleeding hearts would feel sorry for the latter, but make no mistake, they're little more than lab rats. They are not to be pitied. Emotion shouldn't even be wasted on them.

Especially not an emotion as messy and useless in and of itself as romantic love. Why, you wouldn't want to jeopardize the breakthrough of the ages on account of some fairy tale, would you? Besides, it would be the most unfulfilling of relationships, for you could never be with your beloved test subject.

Unless.

Unless you broke them out. Such an action would be highly illogical and, more importantly, met with severe punishment. Are they worth all that?

How to Play
- Your character is either some sort of test subject/creature/weapon/misunderstood and otherwise tortured prisoner of science OR an outside party (scientist, doctor, janitor, visitor, journalist, sky's the limit). They meet their opposite. They fall in love. Bad Shit happens. Nobody's happy.
- Comment with your character, preferences, role, info, all the good stuff.
- Reply to others.
- Be tragic and miserable together.

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Arthur suddenly found himself sitting on the edge of the tub. How'd he get here? He cleared his throat and moved back to the sink.

Part of the voice charm thing...Yea he'd have to be careful it seemed.

"They was waitin' on you to die so they could cut you up." he said "You was gonna just let them without a fight?"

Phoenix arches a brow, but otherwise doesn't react to Arthur coming closer. It's only normal, after all. And as long as there isn't a large body of water for Arthur to drown in between them, Phoenix doesn't mind if he gets closer.

"I like humans. I believe in them. I had faith that someone's conscience would win out before that happened." Phoenix's smile reaches his eyes, crinkling the corners. "And I was right."

And maybe it's stupid to put so much faith in that. Some of Phoenix's mer friends would certainly say so, and would have given him a good shake for not using every tool at his disposal to escape. But Phoenix doesn't want to kill people, and if his options are to have faith or take matters into his own hands and commit murder, then... well, he's made his choice clear, hasn't he?

Maybe it would have been different if Phoenix really hadn't seen a hint of kindness in that place, if Arthur hadn't been around spending time by his tank and sharing food, but Phoenix hasn't gotten anywhere dwelling on what ifs.

His smiling face is strange, the creature-Phoenix-had such spark left in him. Such hope for humans. All Arthur saw when he looked around was cruelty and hardship caused by others.

"You must have a better eye than me, friend. Ain't seen much good in humans. Ain't too good myself." he would have fought to his dying breath to be free of that place if he was in Phoenix's place, would have happily lured those bastards into the tank until it was so full of bodies it was empty of water.

"Just don't like seeing creatures treated bad."

"You just have to know where to look." Phoenix perches his chin on his fist, still smiling. "You see it most when humans have nothing to gain from being kind."

And Phoenix has had the opportunity to see. Yes, humans can be thoughtless and cruel, but he's also watched from the coast as a toddler spots a beached fish and carries it back to the ocean. He's seen the good in teenagers coaxing hermit crabs from plastic cups into hand-picked seashells, in humans building splints for birds with broken wings, in drunk boaters plucking sea turtles from the ocean to swiftly cut them free of abandoned fishnets digging into their fins before setting them back in the water. Those humans stand to gain nothing from helping the animals around them, and yet their first impulse is to be kind. Phoenix puts a lot of stock in that.

"You were kind to me. And you were brave. It means a lot." Phoenix has his own brand of strength. He can sit there in a tub far too small for him with a tail peeling from human cruelty and he can still see the good in people. After months of torment, what sticks out to him is the lone guard who shared food and decided enough was enough.

Arthur smiled sadly and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, unsure of how to react to that. Still weren't out of the woods yet.

But, one thing was for certain, he was in this for sure. This was pre-meditated and planned. He'd have to start again, wherever he ended up, and hope the law didn't try and catch him.

Running again.

But, he didn't regret it. If he got Phoenix to the ocean, it'd be worth it.

"Whatever you say. I need some rest, holler if you need anything though." he said, pushing off from the sink and heading out of the bathroom to his bedroom. He fell onto the mattress on the floor, staring up at the ceiling until sleep claimed him

"Good night," Phoenix smiles after Arthur, his ears relaxing into a mostly folded position before he pillows his head on his arms. He picks at his food, forcing himself to finish before going to sleep. It's hard to sleep too well, cramped as he is, but his sheer exhaustion and relief does a lot to carry him through the day.

But he still wakes up before Arthur. Already, color is starting to return to Phoenix's scales and to his skin. He takes a moment to admire his tail's recovery before pulling himself from the tub. He perches on the toilet lid, patting his tail until it forms two legs. He doesn't even bother to wait for the scales to recede, his ears to change, or for his skin to lose its iridescent sheen before tying a towel around his waist--purely for Arthur's comfort, whenever he wakes up--and goes to explore.

There isn't much to the home. Clearly, Arthur hasn't quite settled into the space. But Phoenix has been in human homes before--even slept over in them, in fact--and he'd like a chance to stretch his legs and show his gratitude.

So by the time Arthur wakes up, Phoenix is at work in the kitchen, frying eggs in a pan. It's simple--curiously enough, fish people don't get a lot of opportunities to cook with fire--but it's simple enough that he can actually do it decently. And Phoenix does it bare-chested, some blue scales still visible climbing up his back.

The door to the bedroom was cracked and if Phoenix had peered through he would have seen Arthur lying on his back, asleep on top of the covers.

He remained asleep for a good portion of the day, finally waking when the smell of food reached him.

He got up and headed for the kitchen, surprised to see Phoenix up and about, let alone cooking. His eyes travelled along his back, taking in the beautiful blue scales as we as the lingering sores.

“Hey, ain’t you supposed to be takin’ it easy in the tub?” he scolded lightly, “You know how to cook?” He also noted with surprise.

Phoenix turns his head to smile at Arthur before starting to plate the eggs. "I am taking it easy. I needed to stretch."

He's pulled a chair close in case he needs to sit down, but he needs to regain his strength by moving around and unfortunately there's no space to swim in the tub. So he's doing the next best thing and walking around.

"Cook is a strong word. I know how to fry eggs." This isn't the first human home he's slept over at. He offers a plate to Arthur, still smiling. "I thought it'd be nice."

He also realized he wasn't drawn to Phoenix when he spoke now, so it was only when he was in his true form.

Arthur chuckled and sat down with a thank you for the eggs, grabbing the salt and pepper before he did. "I appreciate it."

He took a bite, sighing at the hot food and sprinkling a bit of the spices on before taking his time with the simple meal.

"Where'd you learn to fry eggs?" he asked

"A friend taught me." Phoenix lowered himself carefully into his chair, the only sign he's showing that his legs still hurt. He picks at his food slowly once again, but he does seem to be able to eat more today than yesterday. "I like to go on land and pretend to be human sometimes. There's a lot of things here you can't use in the ocean, like books or electricity. So I've made a lot of human friends that don't know I'm something else."

Sometimes the deception made him a little sad, but for the most part, he's always genuine about who he is if not what he is. And he's not the only mer out there wandering around on land and taking full advantage of their dual forms.

"One woman tried to teach me how to make pancakes, but I think that might be a bit beyond my skill level," Phoenix says with a chuckle.

"You like comin' on land?" he asked with a cocked brow. If it were him, he'd remain in the ocean, free as possible. No obligations or anything, just able to enjoy life without being chased after the law or in need of things like money.

Arthur chuckled, "Afraid that's beyond me as well, if I want pancakes or waffles or anything fancy like that, I find a diner. Anything over an open flame however, and I got you covered." Meat, vegetables, hell even fruit was tasty and easily roastable. Baking and ingredients? He was lost.

"Yeah. I do. I like the ocean, but I like the land, too." Phoenix has always lingered around coasts for that reason. He doesn't think he'd be very happy staying just on land or just in the ocean--although getting cut off from the ocean would certainly shorten his life expectancy. "I'm not the only one. There are a lot of people like me who like to live on both. I'm just probably... more bold about it than most."

Most coastal mer don't go around couch surfing in human homes and kissing humans, but Phoenix isn't most mer. When he finally drags his sorry tail back home to the ocean, the number of 'I told you so's he'll get for getting trapped will be legendary.

"There are probably some people in the ocean who are really worried about me." Phoenix touches his neck sheepishly. In the light, it's now easier to see the ring around his neck left behind by the chain. Luckily, it looks less red than yesterday, less angry overall, but it'll definitely leave a scar. "I'll need to let them know I'm okay after this is all over."

Mer people just blending into regular folk. He'd been land locked most of his life, preferring the great plains and an open road, but the ocean and seaside was nice. Smelled a little weird.

Arthur noticed the collar mark. He didn't have much in the way of medical supplies, but after they finished eating he'd see what he had and treat the merman as best he could.

The mention of after it was all over had him wondering about his own fate. if he were caught, he weren't sure what would happen. Maybe just jail time, maybe they'd send someone to hunt him down. The facility was pretty hush hush about what was going on, making the news of merpeople public would be hard to hide if they caught and prosecuted him.

"You uhh, mentioned you could help me as well?" he asked. If Phoenix couldn't after all, well he needed a plan for himself once he dumped him in the sea.

Phoenix nods, his face growing serious. "I said I'd help, and I meant it." It'd be a poor way to thank him for saving his tail to just abandon him here.

He leans forward, having finished his eggs, and fixes those too-blue eyes on Arthur. "I can take you anywhere the ocean touches. Coastal US, or some other country if you wanted. I could take you underwater too for a while, but I don't think that'd be very sustainable for long." It doesn't occur to Phoenix to elaborate on how he'd be able to take a human underwater without drowning him, focused as he is on trying to plan something more concrete. "There are some islands where you could lay low too, if you don't want to bother with humans for a while. There'd be mer there, but no humans."

Arthur listened intently on the other's proposition and he gave him a wry smile. "You forget, I ain't got no gills." he could technically steal a boat, but most had some form of GPS locator or something on them these days so wherever he dumped it, he'd be found.

Living out on an island sounded...lonely, but there'd be other merfolk, so, maybe not. Just be the only human. Was that better than running around here on the mainland?

He finished his eggs and sat back in his seat.

"No, I remember. I'd just have to share mine." Phoenix pats his bare side where his gills have flattened. They look more like oddly uniform scars like this. "I pull oxygen from water and I share it with you. Not good for long term, but you could stay underwater longer than humans would expect."

He's used the trick to save drowning humans before. From the outside, it looks like a really intense kiss, but it's the only way for a human to survive under the ocean for any length of time without any equipment.

"I could show you, if you wanted."

"You mean you just breathe into me?" he asked, fascinated but also...skeptical.

Weren't mermaids and sirens the sort to drown sailors?

"Yea, let's test things out before we go divin' into the ocean." Arthur laughed. He got up, taking their paper plates and tossing them out.

There was also the matter of swimming. He was a fair swimmer, but he weren't no fishman. If Phoenix could breathe for him, he was also going to be dragging him along when he inevitably tired.

“I’ll show you from the tub.” Phoenix wouldn’t be able to do anything in this form anyway. He has to brace himself on the table to rise again, but he can walk without leaning on anything back to the bathroom.

He unwraps the towel from his waist and sets it aside before settling back in the water. His tail returns quickly, looking healthier than before but still having a ways to go. He sinks in comfortably, letting his gills start to filter water for him as his ears flick lazily and he waits for Arthur to follow him.

Arthur followed, looking away politely until Phoenix sank into the water, watching the strange transformation. He still looked in rough shape but at least he was eating and seemed to be in good spirits.

He knelt by the edge of the tub. He couldn't get into the tub himself but when ready he could hold his breath and stick his face in the water.

It was a great amount of trust he was putting into Phoenix to not drown him.

Phoenix shimmies to sink his upper half into the water, his tail curling to the side of the tub. In the dark echo of the salty water, a strange liminal space seems to form, one where his eyes are strange and brighter than their surroundings and there's a hum under the slosh of liquid. In that moment, Phoenix suddenly is further away from being human than any wild animal.

He cups Arthur's face under the water, his newly appearing claws catching in his hair, and he presses their lips together. Whatever pull is in his voice, it's doubled now, not needing his words to carry in the mingled breath and fill up Arthur's head. And with the pull and the kiss and the strange half space, there's air, richer and headier than what's on land, easily held in the lungs for longer whether by some odd biological quirk or a stroke of magic. Either could be believable.

Arthur opened his eyes underwater, the saltiness of it stinging, but he could still see the merman and his otherworldly form. The touch of his face has him almost pull back immediately, but he holds himself there and waits.

The air is rich and fills him deeply, the kiss-not-a-kiss is very odd and he almost tries to return it. But he takes in the breath, his lungs straining a little before now refilled and ready to hold on if he were swimming.

His gaze lingered on the creature's face, something within stirring in a way he weren't sure he wanted to feel for him.

Phoenix withdraws from the kiss, but his hands linger on Arthur's face, his eyes unerringly focused on Arthur's. He doesn't look like he speaks, but a hum is still audible, something that echoes through the water.

Then Phoenix pushes his head back up to the surface, his ears fanning and flicking droplets of water off. The spell can't be entirely broken as long as he's in his true form, but now it's not magnified by the water or by a kiss.

Arthur lifted his head from the water when Phoenix did, not even grabbing a towel as water sluiced off him and soaked his shirt, still transfixed on the merman.

He stared for a long moment at him, mind a fog, and ideas of kissing him-for real this time-circling in his head. A second later and he closed the distance, pressing his lips against the merman's own, not seeking breath this time. The tickle of facial hair brushed Phoenix's smooth skin, Arthur putting a decent amount of weight into the kiss.

Suddenly his eyes opened and he pulled away, shaking his head and swearing. "Shit...I-I shouldn't have...shit..." The hell was he thinking?!

Phoenix makes a soft noise of surprise in the back of his throat as Arthur kisses him, closing his eyes and grasping Arthur's arms on instinct. The kiss is heavy, Arthur's stubble ticklish, and oh does it make Phoenix's head spin.

When Arthur pulls away, Phoenix almost tries to chase his lips, to pull him back in, but Arthur's distress is immediately clear. Phoenix opens his eyes, realizing with horror exactly what might have just happened.

"No, no, it's okay," Phoenix says, his ears folding and pinning to the sides of his head. "Did you not want to do that?"

Phoenix should have thought of this. His voice is bad enough, but sharing breath scrambles human brains even worse. What if he just pulled Arthur into kissing him when he didn't want to? Ugh, fine way to thank his savior.

"I...I don't...no...I don't know..." Arthur sat heavily down on the floor, head spinning.

He closed his eyes, trying to shake the fog, drawing a shaky breath. The feeling had been so intense...his heart raced a mile a minute.

Its a long few moments before Arthur pushed himself to his feet, grabbed a towel and slowly dried his face and hair. He stared at himself in the mirror. Scars, sunspots, age lines...his eyes flicked to the merman's reflection then back to his own. Who was he kidding? Such a creature wouldn't...

He hung up the towel then leaned on the sink, arms folded. He tried to change the subject, think of anything else except Phoenix's lips. "We should leave tomorrow mornin', before sun up, got a few hours drive to the shore."

Blinded me with science

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