deercountry | The Heart is a Bloom (Open)

Entry tags:

The Heart is a Bloom (Open)

Who: Luca and open
What: Catch all for the month
When: Throughout the month
Where: Behind the Disaster House, anywhere in the streets, the Archives

Content Warnings: Injured fish/fish gets killed for food

[Growing Pains: OTA]

It takes him a minute to decide what he wants to plant. Everything he came here with is a reminder of his past. The herding staff from when he used to live on the farm herding fish, though Luca realizes if he buries that, it's going to take a very long time to dig a hole large enough. Then there were the pictures Alberto drew, but he doesn't want to get rid of those. Alberto's not a part of his past he's ready to let go of yet, and there's always the chance he'll show up in this place. The sea monster village, however, is clearly and distinctly in his past. It's not a place he can go back to, and it's a place he was moving on from even in his own world. It's a place he's willing to let go of. He picks up his seagrass shorts, an article of clothing that's unmistakably 'sea monster', and takes them outside. He grabs a shovel and starts digging a hole behind the house.

It's not long before a flower emerges. Posidonia, a sea grass flower. Of course, that makes sense. He's fairly sure the shorts were sea grass in the first place, so what else would grow out of them?. But, of course, he knows that means he'll have to keep the plant in salt water.

"I'll have to find a tank or a vase to keep you in."

[Around Town: OTA]

Naturally, being new to this place, Luca wants to check it out. Sure, there are lamp locations and he can just teleport wherever he needs to go, but while Luca is more than happy to use them, he doesn't want to become dependent on them, which means he'll have to learn the lay of the land without them. Luckily for him, he arrived with his bike. It's incredibly rusted, but he's never had it in any other state, having gotten it the only way most sea monsters could get such a thing. By finding it in the Ligurean sea, not far from a steep cliff that dropped off into the water.

But, miraculously, despite all the rust his bike worked just fine, and he'd even been able to ride it well enough to win the biking portion of a triathlon once. Now he's riding through town, wearing the clothes he found in his bag on arrival, as well as his robes. The latter was mostly due to the weather. With all the rain, he wanted something water resistant so he wouldn't change in the middle of town. Sure, everyone who had seen him in his sea monster form so far had been fine with it, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to take some precautions with how many people see him.

That's why, as the first few drops begin to fall, Luca stops his bike, putting one bare foot down so he can focus on pulling his robe over his head...only to put his foot right into a puddle.

"Gah!"

He pulled his foot (which was now green) out of the puddle, causing him to fall off his bike to the ground. Frantically, Luca pulls the robe over his head to keep his face human at least, before desperately trying to wipe the water off his foot...and now his leg as well after that fall, to try and force himself to change back.

Then, finally noticing that someone else is there, Luca looks up with a nervous laugh. "Oh, uh...hi."

[The Archaic Archives: OTA]

By the time Luca reaches the Gaze, he's given up all hope of holding onto his human form. The rain's just coming down too hard, and it's too difficult trying to keep all his skin covered and ride a bike at the same time. Eventually, he just accepts that he's going to have to be in his sea monster form for now, and that's just going to have to be okay. Still, he's on high alert the entire time, just in case someone might take issue with a sea monster biking through town.

And then he reaches his destination. The archives. Between this and the School of Mutter, it truly made the Gaze the most wonderful and happy place in the entire town in Luca's eyes.

He walks inside. Normally he'd shake himself dry, but he doesn't want to take any chances of getting even a drop of water on one of the books, so instead he waits to air dry naturally. Once that happens, his scales and fins begin slowly receding into his now human-looking skin. Now that he's dry, Luca begins to walk through the Archives, looking at the books as he passes.

"Wow, there's so much here! I wonder where I should even start."

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"You're not completely disgusted with me?"

That's a huge relief. After seeing her reaction, he'd been afraid he wouldn't be welcome back into the house.

"I...I don't know what sushi is, but I'm glad you don't think I'm a monster."

He remembers how humans had reacted to him in the past, and he had wondered, for a little bit, if it had only been a matter of time before they reacted to him the same way here. He's surprised and relieved to see Luz okay with it now, though. Then she mentions her legs.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess swimming without a tail would be pretty hard. Do you want to start heading back to shore?"

"It was the blood, I guess? I just wasn't expecting to see it up close like that, so it was a little shocking!"

She was definitely not going to tell him she immediately thought of those mountain men. They were horrible cannibals, and Luca could not have been more far removed from all of them. It was certainly not Luca's fault she thought of that first. It must have been the blood.

"It's just raw fish prepared in a specific way. Plus you don't have to deal with all the bones!"

Luz shook her head. "Come on Luca, of course you're not a monster! We all look different from each other, and not everyone here is human! If I thought you were a monster, I would have never had a wolf girl for a friend."

She did wince a little there. Ugh, now was not the time to cry, please.

"Oh, no way! And miss seeing you in your element? This is why we're out here! Come on, show me of what else you do!"

Edited 2021-09-26 20:09 (UTC)

"Oh, I'd probably like that, then."

He'll definitely have to try sushi sometime. The further reassurance that he's not a monster is comforting, though, since realizing he'd just totally lost control...it was a little scary, and had been even worse when he knew Luz had seen it.

"I have no idea what wolves eat," he admits. Though he supposes if most of them don't talk, they probably don't cook their food any more than sea monsters did.

As for showing her what else he can do? Well, there's that neat trick Alberto showed him.

"Wait right there!"

And then he darts away. Once he's far enough away, he turns back, swimming quickly, until he builds up enough momentum to jump out of the water at a high enough speed to throw the water off of him, turning him human for a second before he dives back into the water, reverting to his sea monster form.

"As long you don't have a problem with rice and ginger, you should be ok! Try to watch yourself around the wasabi though."

Luz may have been able to tolerate hot things, but that didn't mean everyone could.

"I mean, they're carnivores, so they eat creatures too, like rabbits and squirrels and stuff. They don't tend to change their diet much, I don't think. That's why, trust me, you're all right. I just wasn't expecting the big CHOMP!"

Luz made a point to exaggerate that with exaggerate gnashing and everything so Luca understood that she wasn't freaked out anymore.

But that trick? That was just the coolest. Luz watched him soar high, popping into his human form before going back into the water, back to his true fishy self.

"That was great! I am super jealous, and I can turn into a bird!"

"Oh, right. Well, that's good to know that I'm not the only one who eats...uh...fresh food. That isn't cooked. Without utensils."

Which he only knows what 'cooking' and 'utensils' are from his time on the surface. First time he saw a fork while swimming around looking at human stuff that ended up in the sea, he had no idea what it was. Still, it's nice to have that extra reassurance that Luz really was okay with...the thing he did.

Her reaction to his trick, however, made him bounce right back to his fun, happy mood he'd been in before chowing down on that fish.

"I'm glad you like it, even if I still think turning into a bird is really impressive!"

He knows he loved it when she took him flying on her staff, after all.

"But jumping out of the water is pretty cool, too. Alberto's the one who taught me how. Maybe if you ever find a spell that lets you swim like me, I can show you, too!"

"Not everyone is human here, and that's honestly for the best. If we're going to be around all types of different Sleepers, that should include more than what's humanoid. Heck, even the humans here aren't really the same except mostly biologically. Some of their lives are SO different from each other they might as well be different species!"

In any case, Luz was quickly assimilating this information on Luca. If she was going to make the Disaster house feel comfortable for him, that included making sure he had things made in a way he was accustomed to.

"Let's agree that they're both pretty awesome!"

Luz thought about this a moment. "You know, we DID find that school before, and they're bound to have a library. Maybe we can look up a spell that can do that together! You ARE trying to be an Arcane Scholar, right? Let's let that be some practice!"

"Oh, yeah! I actually went back to that library and studied with Varian for a while after that. There are so many books there, Luz. I didn't know anywhere had that many books. If there's a spell here that can turn you into a sea monster, it'll definitely be there."

And it's definitely a great start to the whole Arcane Scholar thing.

"Good to know! In the last town we were in, their library sadly met its demise when it fell into one of the many holes that world made in itself. It'll be great to have access to a new one here!"

Plus, she'd be able to see Luca in his element, which was even better!

"...I am so glad we're not in that old town. The library here is just the most wonderful place ever, and I hope we never lose it."

There's so many books there. He could read forever and never get through all them. Just...all of human knowledge all in one building, and he never wants to lose that.

"The library there was nice, so it was sad to see it go."

Luz, who frequented libraries for various reasons, then thought of something.

"You know, you COULD start building a library of your own in the house. What's stopping you?"

"I mean, most of the house is a library already. I just read whatever books I want there. And then I come to the library here, because that has even more books."

As far as he's concerned, he has all the books he needs, he just doesn't want to lose that. If something ever happens to the library here he might start putting together his own library.

"But I'm talking about one in your own room Luca! You could have your own bookshelf with all of your favorite books on them, that way you can come back and read your favorites if you felt like it! I know I have something like that back home for me, why wouldn't you have one of your own?"

Luz actually didn't need one in her own room, since all of her favorites were actually in the tower, her favorite reading place.

"Yeah, I could have my own books in my own room. I mean, it obviously won't be as big as the library here because there's not enough space, but I'd definitely like some of my own books, too!"

But he'll still come to the Archives a lot, because there seem to be infinite books there. And, of course, he'll read plenty of the books that he finds throughout their house, particularly in the Tower.

"Not big enough YET. I mean, granted, it would be a long, long time before we ever had anything that would be close to the archives in a library, but one can hope! Besides, you can always have your own personal collection of favorites, right?"

Luz knew, with the décor she had, she was going to have to fill her own shelves with the witchiest of witch content, and she had no problem with that!

"Of course! I should definitely get a decent sized collection of books, even if it's not enough to count as a library."

It would still be nice to have his own books that were readily available, after all.

"Of course you should! When people come to visit you, it'll be the thing they notice first off. Besides, a library collection can remind you of better times even when you're depressed, and you get lost in a place that only a book can take you. I highly recommend it!"

And she'd be just as happy to help him find a bookshelf too!

"Yeah! And then books will be right there for me if I get comfortable and don't want to walk up the tower to get a book!"

Sure, he absolutely loves going to the top of the tower, and he's definitely taken naps up there before, but he wouldn't want to go up there if he's already settled in bed and going to be drifting off to sleep soon.

"Yes, exactly! That's what's so great about comfort reading! There right on your bookcase, waiting for you!"

Though personally, Luz wouldn't mind going to the tower and reading when she had the chance. The solitude was something she really enjoyed, even if there was a time she would have likely stayed there longer.

"Yeah! And when I want something new, there's always the tower and the Archives. I have access to all the reading options I could possibly want here!"

"Exactly! You don't even need a library card!"

Additionally, she wouldn't be surprised if Varian nudged Luca into picking up some educational stuff, which she was sure Luca wouldn't mind.

"You know, if you ever get a look through the archives, see what you can find out about the Pthumerians. I'm kinda curious about them now."

For several reasons.

"Oh, I definitely will! I've been wanting to learn more about this place, anyway."

Then, remembering how much Luz had been swimming, Luca asked, "Do you want to go ahead and head back? I'm guessing you're probably pretty tired by now."

And she did have to go through the shock of seeing Luca eat a fish. Although she seems to be over that by now.

"So do I! But for some of us, I guess we want a more hands on approach. I really should have started reading too, like you are, but something's telling me that I'm not fated to learn things that way."

Which was funny, as that was usually a way Luz wanted to learn things, but she was likely going to stick to that for learning more magic spells.

"Pfft, tired? Me? If anything, I feel way more invigorated now! Plus, it's not often I get to see you in your other form, so I'm savoring this!"

"Great! You know, maybe I should go out in the rain more."

Sure, that's not the same as actually seeing him swim, but it would still give her a chance to see his true form.

Then he gets an idea.

"You want to see something neat?"

"Why not, the rain is great! I mean, maybe not when it's pouring out, but I don't think that'll affect you the way it would me anyway!"

Luz was always down for seeing Luca's true form. Honestly, he was cute either way.

"Huh? Yeah!"

"Great! Stay right there."

And then Luca goes underwater and darts off quickly. He doesn't go too far, though, just gaining enough ground so he'll have enough room to get momentum. Then he turns around, surging through the water, and when he gets enough speed...

He shoots up, leaping out of the water, far enough to arc over Luz's head, the speed enough to throw the water off his body, triggering the change. Scales retract for a second, leaving skin behind, before he dives right back into the water on Luz's other side, instantly transforming back.

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