Luca Paguro (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
schoolingfish) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
deercountry2021-09-12 04:59 pm
schoolingfish) wrote in deercountry2021-09-12 04:59 pm
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."
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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Which is about the greatest compliment Varian can give a person. And oh, that gets a little smile on his face, Luca, you are just his favourite forever. He keeps his own tone low, all conspiratorial-like.
"Well, that's okay, there's a first time for everyone. I'd say I'd teach you the cool way to find books you want, buuuuut this place doesn't seem to have an actual system in place."
Which is so very maddening. How are they supposed to find anything, Trench? How?
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"Oh, a system would make things a lot easier."
Now that he knows that libraries usually have a system, Luca kind of wishes this one did. He's excited about reading all the books, but it would be easier to find the subjects he's interested in if he knew where to look. Well, he's sure if he keeps looking he'll find what he's looking for eventually.
"I guess for now I'll just wander around and see if anything looks like the kind of thing I'm looking for..." Which might be easier if they team up. "Hey, Varian? Are there any subjects you were looking for in particular? I could let you know if I find anything."
no subject
It would make their nerdy lives so much easier. Why can't they have an easy nerd life, Trench? Why do you have to make everything weird?
"I think that's the idea here. Wandering and it just...leads you to where you want to be. Which is deeply unreliable but whatever," he's so salty over how magical this world is, it's worse than home. "At the moment, I'm trying to work out how the soil works here- how it got so polluted if there's a way to reverse that. So if you see anything like that, I'd be grateful if you can toss it my way."
no subject
But it's probably best to research more ways to get usable soil, especially since composting can take a while.
no subject
There's also dealing with helping with the general food source thing- but rather selfishly, Varian wants to focus on Fern first. The rest will fall into place after that.
"With strong fertiliser ideas like that and trying to work out the chemical makeup of the soils Ariadne's orchard has, we might be able to work out a better long-term solution."
no subject
Because naturally, being completely familiar with fishing boats, Luca figures since humans also eat fish that the rest of his housemates are probably doing just fine for food. Sure, humans have different ways of catching fish, but they seem pretty efficient at it.
He continues to browse the books, eyes scanning the titles. On the way to the area he feels like he should go, he happens to see a book titled 'Creatures of the Trench: A Guide to Physiology and Ecology'. He grabs it, figuring it could be interesting and useful, before continuing to walk along, hoping to find something that would be helpful for Fern.
no subject
Varian would rather have a balanced diet, but hey, it's better than starving to death! He'll trail along, he feels that same pull and it's...weird. He lives in a world of facts and logic, where magic keeps making unfortunate and irritating cameos. He's not super comfortable with it, but he has to admit it's producing results.
"It's weird. The way the library works now. Makes me wonder if there's any limit to something you want to find here."
no subject
The idea of infinite knowledge is both daunting and exciting, and it makes Luca think maybe he should set aside any plans of reading every book here. Maybe he can just keep learning forever, whatever he wants to learn, and that can be enough.
no subject
Learning, forever sounds like the best way to live a life honestly. Who needs anything else when they have books?
no subject
Then he looks over. "Oh, here's the gardening section!"
no subject
This library is a giant nerd honey trap and do they care? Absolutely not. It's fine, Luz and Fern can come bring them food, they can just live here. He heads over, ooohing softly at the selection.
"Oh wow, there's a lot here. You ready for some serious research?"
no subject
Living here forever sounds like a great idea! Sorry Luz, that plan to make Luca a super soft bed is in vain. He'll just be sleeping on tables in the Archives, now.
no subject
"Well, you can definitely stop to eat and sleep," normally he doesn't feel the need to clarify on this but Luca reminds him a lot of himself and he knows he's bad at the...stopping part.
Who needs a nice soft bed when they have books?
no subject
Considering what he'd previously used as a bed before coming here, that's not much of a surprise.
no subject
You know, like reasonable people who care about their wellbeing or something!! Wow!!!
no subject
Well...there was one exception.
"...and one time I fell asleep on the top floor of a tower when I was looking at stars with Alberto, but the floor of the library surrounded by books is just as comfortable as any of those."
no subject
Oh. Wow. That's...kind of adorable. Not for the first time since Luca's mentioned Alberto, Varian wonders if maybe there was a little more going on there. That's pretty dang romantic, kiddo.
"That's nice. What sort of tower was it? Like ours here, or something else?"
no subject
Sure, he was questioning why it was needed, because he was perfectly fine sleeping wherever and if he's fine where he is, he doesn't see any need to move and go somewhere else to sleep.
"I mean, I'm not sure why sleeping on a bed would be better for me than sleeping on the ground, but it's not like I'm morally opposed to soft cushions or anything."
They're just very new to him. As for the tower...
"It's not nice like your tower. It's an old broken down tower on an abandoned island. I'd sneak onto the island to hang out with Alberto before we built up the courage to actually go into the human town."
no subject
And apparently science things trumps...actually sleeping. Or eating. Or taking care of his basic needs.
"Ohhhhh, I see, so it's more a sentimental value sort of thing? Like... for the memories it holds with you and Alberto."
no subject
Sure, he might stay up late to look at the stars, but it was never a situation where he wouldn't be getting to sleep that night.
"Yeah, I mean, I have a lot of complicated feelings around the tower and the island...but yeah. It was a safe place where Alberto and I could explore the surface without all the danger of going near humans."
He also later found out that Alberto's father had abandoned him there, and now he imagines him desperately marking away the days alone in that tower, which definitely changed some of his feelings about it. Still, he remembers all the good times Alberto had there, and he's glad Alberto was able to find a new father figure in the end. One that wouldn't abandon him.
no subject
Like trying to figure out how to contain the giant, evil demon that was hours away from destroying the entire kingdom. Things like that.
"That's... something, I guess? Giving you a safe place away from humanity. It sounds like you needed it."
Boy would the father thing hit Varian hard if he knew, that's always been one of his weak spots. He'd be so very glad to know Alberto still had someone- he sounds like a good kid, from what he's heard of him from Luca.
no subject
But now's a great time to start. Varian's right, though. They definitely needed the island, even if they moved past it in the end.
"And yeah, I don't think I'd have ever been brave enough to go to the human town just directly. Even when I went I thought I was going to die like...a hundred times."
no subject
And anything he can't experience, they'll just figure out a way to replicate it. Luca deserves as much.
"Hah, Luca, I'll let you in on a secret, I sometimes still think that when I'm going into anywhere populated, and I am human. It can be daunting."
no subject
At least, it seems like a long shot even if it would be really cool. It is nice to know he's not the only one to get scared in human towns, though.
"Really? Wow, I didn't think any humans would feel the same way!"
no subject
Shame, it would have been nice to give Luca the chance to really see the stars.
"Oh yeah. I was an outcast in my own village for most of my life. No one really got me- called me a wizard and everything," and then other, worse things. "I think a lot of people feel out of place sometimes. Fitting in is hard."
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